LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the 
Mrs.  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy  Church  History  Fund. 


Division... 

5-«(io«...'..?:..^S97 


The  Methodist  Episc 
Church  and  the  Civil  War 


WILLIAM  WARREN  SWEET,  Ph.  D. 

Assistant  Professor  of  History,  Ohio  Wesley  an  University. 


A  Thesis  Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  Partial  Ful- 
fillment of  the  Requirements  for  the 
Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 


CINCINNATI: 
METHODIST   BOOK  CONCERN 


PRESS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/methodistepiscopOOswee_0 


^0  tMiJ  $B\h, 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction,  9 

By  Professor  R.  T.  Stevenson,  Ph.  D. 

I.    The  Status  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church  at  the  Opening  of  the  War,  15 

II.    The  Church  on  the  Border,  47 

III.  The  Church  in  the  New  England  and 

Atlantic  States,  63 

IV.  The  Church  in  the  Central  and  North- 

western States,      ...       -  80 

V.    Missions  of  the  Church  in  the  South 

During  the  War,  96 

VI.    Methodist  Periodicals,      -      -      -  111 

VII.    Methodist  Chaplains  in  the  Union 

Armies,  133 

VIII.    The  War  Bishops,  -  142 

IX.    Methodist  Co-operation  with  Inter- 
denominational Organizations,    -  161 

X.    Bibliography,  177 

5 


Contents 


APPENDIX. 

PAGE 

A.  Names  of  Methodist  Chaplains,       -       -  189 

B.  Names  "of  Methodist  Preachers  Who  Were 

Delegates  of  the  U.  S.  Christian  Com- 
mission,       -  197 

C.  Letter  to  Jefferson  Davis  by  a  Confederate 

Officer,  Concerning  Bishop  Ames,       -  208 

D.  Outline  of  Bishop  Simpson's  Lecture  on  "Our 

Country ; "    Bishop    Simpson's  Funeral 
Oration  Over  the  Body  of  Lincoln,    -  211 

E.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in 

Relation  to  the  War,   -       -       -       -  219 

F.  Tabulated  List  of  Memorials  Presented  to 

the  General  Conference  of  1860,  For  and 
Against  Changing  the  Rule  on  Slavery,  226 


PREFACE 


This  study  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  its 
relation  to  the  Civil  War  was  begun  several  years  ago, 
and  was  continued  and  is  brought  to  its  present  form  as 
a  Doctor's  Thesis  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
And  I  wish  in  the  very  beginning  to  acknowledge  the 
advice  and  assistance  I  have  received,  particularly  from 
Professor  H.  V.  Ames,  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  also  from  Professor  R.  T.  Stevenson,  of  the 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  who  has  written  the  Intro- 
duction. 

The  study  deals  with  facts  alone,  and  I  have  tried 
to  be  absolutely  fair  to  all  parties.  Most  of  the  material 
which  I  have  had  to  use  is  of  controversial  character, 
and  it  was  not  always  easy  to  come  to  a  conclusion  as 
to  the  exact  facts,  and  it  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered 
at  if  I  have  made  mistakes  in  some  of  my  conclusions; 
but  while  I  admit  possible  mistakes,  I  can  still  lay 
claim  to  a  clear  conscience,  as  far  as  fairness  is  con- 
cerned. In  many  places  the  account  is  not  as  readable 
as  I  should  have  liked  to  have  made  it,  and  where  such 
is  the  case  I  have  no  excuse  to  offer  except  that  in 
my  desire  to  be  fair  I  have  crowded  down  all  feeling 
and  any  attempt  at  a  glorification  of  the  Church,  the 
absence  of  which  has  perhaps  made  the  narrative  seem 
more  prosaic. 

The  material  I  have  used  has  been  practically  un- 
touched by  the  regular  historian.  My  peculiar  sources 
have  been  such  as  the  Church  periodicals,  Minutes  of 
the  General  Conferences  and  the  several  Annual  Con- 
ferences, Church  records,  minutes  of  preachers'  meet- 
ings, histories  of  individual  Churches,  and  biographies 

7 


Preface. 


of  prominent  Church  officials,  such  as  the  bishops,  the 
general  secretaries  of  the  various  Church  societies,  and 
the  private  papers  of  others  intimately  connected  with 
the  Church  and  its  activities  during  the  war. 

In  making  this  study  it  was  not  my  object  to  glorify 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  because  of  the  impor- 
tant part  she  took  in  the  Civil  War,  but  it  was  to  tell 
in  a  scientific  manner  just  what  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  taken  as  a  typical  example  of  the  other 
Churches,  did  in  aiding  the  Federal  Government  to  bring 
to  a  successful  close  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  The 
thesis  of  this  study  is  to  show  the  importance  of  the 
Churches  as  an  aid  to  the  Government  during  the  Civil 
War. 

I  also  entertain  the  hope  that  this  attempt  to  tell 
the  story  of  the  relation  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  the  Civil  War  may  prove  of  some  interest 
and  value  to  those  who  love  the  Church  of  their  fathers. 
Delaware,  Ohio,  July  1,  1912.  W-  W-  S- 


INTRODUCTION 


The  writer  of  the  following  thesis  set  for  himself  a 
serious  task.  So  far  as  I  know  it  has  not  been  attempted 
by  any  one  else.  The  connection  between  Church  and 
State  in  America  is  intimate  and  vital.  It  is  not  legal. 
The  Constitution  prohibits  any  such  interdependence  as 
European  history  so  fully  illustrated  for  centuries. 

Yet  neither  can  do  without  the  other.  According  to 
Professor  Seeley,  of  Cambridge  University,  religion  is 
the  great  State-making  principle.  Its  whole  genius  tends 
to  order,  to  adjustment  of  social  relations,  to  support 
of  good  government,  to  peace.  To  secure  these  it  may 
even  become  the  blesser  of  battlefields.  At  least  it 
achieved  this  character  in  the  past. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  entered  upon  its 
unparalleled  career  of  expansion  with  the  birth  of  the 
American  Republic.  Its  first  two  bishops,  Coke  and 
Asbury,  were  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  officials  to  tender 
to  the  first  President  of  the  American  Union  the  unani- 
mous support  of  their  Church  immediately  upon  its  or- 
ganization. They  asked  no  favors  of  money  or  legal 
support,  only  that  they  might  procure  through  their 
evangel  a  high  and  loyal  devotion  to  the  lofty  purpose 
which  animated  the  fathers  of  the  Republic — that  of 
planting  on  the  "Western  Continent  a  new  and  abiding 
government  of,  by,  and  for  the  people.  That  such  an 
expending  democracy  and  such  an  ecclesiastical  system 
should  have  developed  deep  sympathy  with  each  other's 
aim  is  not  to  be  reckoned  strange.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
State  and  Church  were  wedded  in  indissoluble  bonds, 
but  it  was  not  to  be  so  in  the  nineteenth  century.  It 
was  reserved  for  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  illustrate  the 

9 


Introduction. 


intermingling  of  a  free  faith  and  a  mighty  nationalism ; 
the  State  giving  freedom  to  the  Church,  and  the  Church 
giving  to  the  State  moral  character. 

Long  years  after  the  visit  of  the  bishops  to  the  Presi- 
dent a  distinguished  successor  of  Coke  and  Asbury 
headed  a  committee  under  appointment  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1864  to  go  to  Washington  and  to  convey 
to  Abraham  Lincoln  assurances  of  loyalty  to  the  cause 
of  the  Union.  It  was  a  time  of  profound  anxiety,  and 
the  reply  of  the  President  showed  his  appreciation  of 
what  the  committee  brought  to  him.  His  words,  care- 
fully written  out  before  their  arrival  after  he  had  read 
their  statement  laid  before  him  by  one  of  their  number, 
included  the  famous  tribute  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  which  "  sends  more  soldiers  to  the  field,  more 
nurses  to  the  hospital,  and  more  prayers  to  heaven 
than  any,"  because  of  its  greater  size.  What  the  Presi- 
dent felt  was  true  of  the  relation  between  the  State 
and  the  Church  he  expressed  in  the  immortal  benedic- 
tion, his  closing  word  to  the  committee:  "God  bless  the 
Methodist  Church — bless  all  the  Churches — and  blessed 
be  God,  who  in  this  our  great  trial  giveth  us  the 
Churches. ' ' 

No  one  can  doubt,  with  such  a  statement  as  the  above 
from  this  master  of  men  and  words,  the  propriety  of 
the  effort  of  the  writer  of  this  thesis  to  discover  the 
place  and  to  measure  the  power  and  to  characterize  the 
quality  of  the  services  rendered  the  Union  by  the 
Church  he  has  selected  for  illustration  of  his  proposi- 
tion. It  is  now  far  enough  removed  from  the  terrific 
struggle  for  men  to  use  scientific  rather  than  passionate 
animus  to  set  forth  the  work  of  the  dead.  The  spirit 
and  method  of  proceedure  used  by  Mr.  Sweet  are  not 
those  of  a  laudator,  but  of  the  scientific  analyst,  as  be- 
comes the  accomplishment  of  the  doctorate  of  philosophy 
degree  for  which  he  offers  this  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.   In  no  sense  is  he  a  special  pleader.  He 

10 


Introduction. 


has  not  suffered  his  natural  affection  for  the  Church  of 
his  fathers  to  queer  his  judgment.  Nor  has  he  allowed 
the  substitution  of  any  graces  of  style  for  careful  re- 
search and  of  accurate,  even  bald  and  unadorned  state- 
ment of  facts.  To  sacrifice  otherwise  pardonable  en- 
thusiasm for  the  sake  of  stoic  impartiality  is  no  mean 
use  of  the  altar  of  scholarship.  He  has  spared  no  pains 
to  reach  original  material  in  unearthing,  when  possible, 
unpublished  private  and  official  documents.  His  bibli- 
ography reveals  his  obligations. 

A  swift  survey  will  indicate  his  aim  and  its  results. 
That  one  may  state  properly  the  position  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
he  must  pick  up  the  thread  of  history  farther  back  in 
time.  Great  institutions  never  step  up  to  a  fixed  date 
with  convictions  duly  marked  for  delivery,  unchanged 
from  start  to  destination.  No  cross  section  at  any  one 
date  satisfies  the  historian.  So  the  author  handles  with 
impartial  statement  the  developing  attitude  of  the 
Church  towards  slavery.  This  was  fundamentally  ob- 
ligatory, as  involved  in  the  development  of  both  State 
and  Church.  What  the  Church  thought  of  the  labor 
system  of  a  giant  section  of  the  Nation  was  as  impor- 
tant to  set  forth  as  the  thought  of  the  State,  for  the 
same  men  who  worked  the  enginery  of  strife  were  those 
who  were  trained  in  supplication.  On  both  sides  gallant 
soldiers  were  true  Christians.  A  general  view  of  the 
numerical  strength  of  the  Church  and  its  distribution 
in  the  States  demanded  analysis.  The  first  chapter  is 
taken  up  with  this  duty. 

In  the  second  chapter  we  find  an  impartial  resume 
of  the  work  of  the  Church  in  the  Border  States.  Fairly 
to  state  the  case  upon  the  soil  where  for  decades  and 
on  into  the  years  of  strife  members  of  the  Church  held 
differing  views  of  the  political  situation  is  not  without 
difficulty,  yet  even  here  the  spirit  of  impartiality  is 
manifest.    In  the  third  chapter  the  task  is  easier,  for 

11 


Introduction. 


in  New  England  the  wind  blew  in  the  main  all  one  way. 
and  nearly  so  also  in  Xew  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Penn- 
sylvania. In  order  in  the  following  chapter  is  related 
the  position  of  the  membership  of  the  Church  in  the 
central  and  northwest  sections  of  the  Nation.  "With  the 
narration  of  the  work  of  the  General  Conference  of 
1864  the  fourth  chapter  is  brought  to  an  end. 

In  chapter  five  the  writer  enters  what  would  have 
been  forty  years  ago  a  mine,  with  its  narrow  alleys  filled 
with  mephitic  gases,  a  peril  to  any  but  the  miner  carry- 
ing a  Davy  lamp,  his  only  safety  against  explosion ;  now, 
in  the  better  air  of  cooler  and  unprejudiced  reflection, 
one  can  walk  without  a  safety  lamp  pinned  to  his  brow. 
At  any  rate  the  historian  content  with  only  the  truth 
is  safe.  With  that  alone  the  coming  age  will  be  satisfied. 
Less  frankness  would  have  led  the  writer  to  stop  with 
an  earlier  date,  but  such  a  spirit  never  gets  the  world  of 
scholarship  along.  Having  entered  upon  the  discussion, 
it  must  get  on  to  the  end.  It  is  enough  to  say  that,  as 
war  has  always  interfered  with  the  normal  order  of 
liuman  society,  it  could  not  be  expected  suddenly  to 
change  the  conviction  of  the  Church  as  to  its  duty  to 
go  to  its  membership  or  sympathizers  across  the  Ohio 
River.  To  take  up  work  either  among  the  negroes  in 
the  South  or  among  the  whites  where  it  was  welcomed, 
and  in  any  case  where  such  work  would  not  have  been 
done  had  not  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  attempted 
to  do  it,  and  in  fields  where  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  had  been  crippled  by  the  war,  was  the 
call  of  high  duty  as  it  appeared  to  our  fathers.  The 
justification  of  it  all  was  felt  in  later  years  by  such 
men  as  Bishop  Atticus  G.  Hay  good,  of  Georgia.  In 
saying  this  there  is  not  any  purpose  to  justify  any  hot 
words  or  unfraternal  acts  which  followed  the  final  sur- 
render of  the  Southern  army.  Later  wisdom  will  see 
how  to  prevent  duplication  of  work  wherever  earlier  im- 
pulse may  have  erred.    But  this  is  merely  by  way  of 

12 


Introduction. 


granting  that  Mr.  Sweet  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
recite  the  facts,  as  he  has  done. 

It  is  past  belief  that  so  active  a  body  of  men  should 
not  have  given  expression  to  their  convictions  in  the 
Church  papers.  Mr.  Sweet  has  made  an  interesting 
chapter  upon  the  Church  Press.  In  such  papers  as 
Zion's  Herald,  published  in  Boston,  there  was  the  ut- 
most abandon  of  patriotic  fervor.  And  with  equal  de- 
votion we  find  the  Western  Christian  Advocate,  in  Cin- 
cinnati, on  the  border,  uttering  no  doubtful  word.  On 
the  first  page  of  his  editorial  work  Dr.  Calvin  Kingsley 
wrote  thus,  on  the  date  of  June  5, 1861 :  "  What  is  the  use 
of  writing  upon  anything  else?  It  will  not  be  read; 
or  if  read,  not  remembered  or  thought  of.  The  subject 
engrosses  all  thought,  all  interest.  We  read  about  it, 
we  talk  about  it ;  we  dream  about  it ;  we  preach  about  it ; 
we  pray  about  it."  After  this  fashion  he  mirrored  the 
views  of  scores  of  others. 

Akin  to  this  was  the  support  of  such  brilliant  men 
as  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  McClintock,  in  Paris,  where  he 
used  the  press  and  any  other  available  agency  to  quiet 
the  French  Government  when  it  was  striving  to  aid  the 
Southern  Confederacy. 

An  interesting  presentation  of  the  faithfulness  of 
the  Methodist  army  chaplains  fills  the  next  chapter. 
No  little  place  was  theirs.  They  were  a  truly  heroic 
class  of  men.  In  the  list  were  men  like  Granville  Moody, 
of  Ohio ;  Evan  Stevenson,  of  Indiana ;  and  W.  H.  Gilder, 
of  New  York.  When  we  reach  the  story  of  the  War 
Bishops,  such  men  as  Matthew  Simpson  and  E.  R.  Ames 
rise  at  call,  whose  devotion  and  tremendous  force  proved 
a  huge  asset  in  favor  of  the  Union. 

Finally  a  chapter  is  devoted  to  all  the  phases  of  co- 
operation with  other  Churches,  in  which  the  Government 
was  made  to  feel  that  it  had  at  call  every  form  of  might 
which  the  different  denominations  could  put  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  struggling  Nation.   The  Christian  Sanitary 

13 


Introduction. 


Commission,  the  Bible  Society,  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
cieties, were  solid  proof  that  up  to  their  ability  the 
members  of  the  Churches  were  using  both  arms  of  power, 
the  human  and  the  divine,  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
National  life.  In  fine,  never  in  history  have  the 
Churches  of  a  land  so  fully  flung  themselves  into  a 
great  conflict  as  during  the  dreadful-glorious  years  of 
1861-1865,  when  the  American  people  issued  from  strife 
a  united  Nation.  A  thousand  things  were  said  and 
done  which  left  sorry  memories;  yet  as  time  goes  on 
and  exercises  its  soothing  agencies,  the  children  of  the 
soldiers  will  more  and  more  come  to  see  eye  to  eye  and 
unite  in  thanking  God  that  His  will  prevailed  and  the 
peaceful  program  of  the  long  ages  of  a  great  Nation 
suffered  only  from  one  sharp  collision  between  men  of 
heroic  mold  but  of  differing  views,  now  and  henceforth 
to  join  in  furthering  the  cause  of  liberty  through  the 
service  of  a  "Free  Church  in  a  Free  State." 

R.  T.  Stevenson. 

Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 

Delaware,  Ohio,  June  19,  1912. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 


* 

CHAPTER  L 

The  Status  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 

To  get  an  understanding  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  at  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  review  the  contest  over  slavery  which  took  place 
within  the  Church,  and  which  finally  resulted  in  the 
great  schism  of  1844. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  in 
Baltimore  in  the  year  1784,  and  at  this  time  the  General 
Rules,  which  had  been  prepared  by  Mr.  "Wesley  in  1739 
for  the  English  Societies,  were  adopted,  among  them 
being  one  forbidding  "the  buying  or  selling  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  men,  women,  or  children,  with  an  intention 
to  enslave  them."1  This  organizing  Conference,  besides 
adopting  this  rule  forbidding  slavery  within  the  Church, 
gave  attention  also  to  the  extirpation  of  the  whole  sys- 
tem. Question  Forty-two  of  the  Minutes  reads,  "What 
methods  can  we  take  to  extirpate  slavery  ? ' '2  This  ques- 
tion is  then  answered  by  a  sweeping  indictment  against 
the  whole  system,  which  is  followed  by  six  special  rules 
designed  completely  to  destroy  slavery  within  the 
Church.  The  summary  of  these  rules  is  as  follows: 
(1)  Every  slave-holding  member,  within  twelve  months 

1 ' '  Anti-Slavery  Struggle  and  Triumph  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,' '  Matlack,  p.  58. 

2 Discipline,  1784  (reprint),  pp.  14,  15. 

15 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


is  required  to  execute  a  deed  of  manumission,  gradually 
giving  his  slaves  their  freedom.  (2)  All  infants  who 
were  born  after  these  rules  went  into  force  were  to  have 
immediate  freedom.  (3)  Members  who  chose  not  to  com- 
ply were  allowed  to  withdraw  within  twelve  months. 
(4)  The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  to  be 
denied  to  all  such  thenceforward.  (5)  No  slave-holders 
were  to  be  admitted  thereafter  to  Church  membership. 
(6)  Any  member  who  bought,  sold,  or  gave  slaves 
away,  except  on  purpose  to  free  them,  were  immediately 
to  be  expelled.3 

Slavery  had  evidently  found  its  way  into  the  Metho- 
dist societies  during  the  Revolution,  and  very  probably 
without  the  knowledge  of  either  Mr.  "Wesley  or  his  as- 
sistant in  America,  Mr.  Francis  Asbury.  One  writer 
points  out  that  almost  every  preacher  received  into  the 
ministry  during  the  Revolution  was  from  the  South, 
and  that  all  the  Conferences  from  1776  to  1787  were 
held  in  what  were  afterwards  the  Slave  States.  From 
1777  to  1783  there  was  not  one  appointment  north  of 
some  parts  of  New  Jersey,  and  out  of  a  membership 
of  about  fourteen  thousand  in  1783  only  about  two 
thousand  resided  in  what  were  afterwards  known  as 
Free  States.4 

For  a  number  of  years  the  rules  adopted  in  the  Con- 
ference of  1784  remained  in  force  and  were  quite 
largely  complied  with.  A  Methodist  residing  in  the 
South  from  1785  to  1826  writes  that  he  never  knew 
of  but  one  instance  where  they  were  neglected  by  a 
member,  and  that  was  his  next-door  neighbor,  at  whose 
house  the  presiding  elder  once  called  on  business  and, 
on  being  asked  to  remain  for  dinner,  replied,  "I  never 
eat  a  meal  in  a  Methodist  slave-holder's  house."5  It 

3  Matlack,  p.  59. 

4  "The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Slavery/'  DeVinne, 
pp.  11-13. 

6 Zion's  Watchman,  April  8,  1838.  Quoted  in  Matlack,  pp. 
59,  60. 

16 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


seems  that  the  preachers,  for  a  few  years  after  these 
rules  were  passed,  preached  boldly  against  slave-holding, 
and  not  a  few  Methodist  slave-holders  liberated  their 
slaves.0  But  these  rules  also  met  with  immediate  oppo- 
sition in  many  sections  of  the  South.  Bishop  Asbury  in 
his  Journal  says,  "At  the  Virginia  Conference  for  1785 
several  petitions  were  presented  by  some  of  the  principal 
members,  urging  the  suspension  of  the  rules." 

This  bold  position,  taken  by  the  Church  at  its  be- 
ginning, began  to  be  receded  from,  however,  by  1786, 
for  in  the  Discipline  of  that  year  Methodists  are  for- 
bidden to  buy  and  sell  slaves,  but  nothing  is  said  about 
slave-holding,  thus  permitting  it  by  inference,  at  least.7 
In  1792  another  receding  step  is  taken  by  omitting  the 
law  passed  in  1786,  retaining  only  the  prohibition 
against  slavery  in  the  General  Rules.8 

In  1796,  however,  the  Church's. position  in  opposi- 
tion to  slavery  was  again  strengthened  by  a  note  pre- 
pared by  the  bishops  and  appended  to  the  General  Rules. 
This  note  begins  with  the  words,  "The  buying  and  sell- 
ing the  souls  of  men  .  .  .  is  a  complicated  crime."9 
This  year  also  a  new  section  "Of  Slavery"  was  added, 
and  the  attempt  to  drive  slavery  from  the  Church  was 
renewed,  by  the  adoption  of  four  new  rules  looking  to 
that  end. 

In  1800  two  more  rules  were  added.  These  rules 
were  not  nearly  so  stringent  as  those  of  1784,  for  only 
Church  officials  were  required  to  emancipate  their 
slaves,  and  preachers  who  became  slave-holders  were  re- 

6  Matlack,  p.  60.  Also  ' '  Barratt  'b  Chapel  and  Methodism, ' '  by 
Hon.  Norris  S.  Barratt,  pp.  41,  42. 

In  January,  1796,  Andrew  Barratt,  ti  being  persuaded  that  lib- 
erty is  the  natural  birthright  of  all  mankind  and  keeping  any  in 
perpetual  slavery  is  contrary  to  the  injunctions  of  Christ, "  for 
which  reason  he  "did  manumit  and  set  absolutely  free  all  his  Ne- 
groes, thirteen  in  all,  so  that  henceforth  they  shall  be  deemed,  ad- 
judged and  taken  as  free  people." — Quoted  from  Deed  Booh  H, 
vol.  2,  p.  264,  Dover,  Del. 

7  Matlack,  p.  60.  8  Ibid,  p.  62. 
9  Discipline,  1796,  pp.  169-171. 

2  1? 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


quired  to  withdraw  from  the  ministry  or  else  emancipate 
their  slaves.  These  rules,  also,  by  inference  allow  mem- 
bers to  hold  slaves,  but  they  must  not  buy  or  sell  them.10 

The  General  Conference  of  1800  authorized  an  4 'Ad- 
dress to  all  their  brethren  and  friends  in  the  United 
States,"  calling  special  attention  to  slavery,  which  was 
signed  by  the  three  bishops:  Coke,  Asbury,  and  What- 
coat,  and  also  by  three  prominent  ministers:  Ezekiel 
Cooper,  William  McKendree,  and  Jesse  Lee.  This  ad- 
dress calls  slavery  "the  great  National  evil"  and  states 
that  "We  therefore,  determined  at  last  to  raise  up  all 
our  influence  in  order  to  hasten  to  the  utmost  in  our 
power  the  universal  extirpation  of  this  crying  sin."11 

From  1800  to  1860  the  various  changes  made  in  the 
Discipline  with  reference  to  slavery  are  as  follows:  In 
1804  the  question  as  to  the  extirpation  of  slavery  was 
changed  from  "What  regulations  shall  be  made  for  the 
extirpation  of  the  crying  evil  of  African  slavery?"  to 
"What  shall  be  done  for  the  extirpation  of  the  evil  of 
slavery?"  In  this  year  also  slave-selling  is  allowed  to 
Church  members,  but  it  was  to  be  under  the  supervision 
of  a  committee  of  the  male  members  of  the  society,  ap- 
pointed by  the  minister.  This  Conference  further  re- 
ceded from  the  former  strong  anti-slavery  position  of 
the  Conferences  of  1784,  1796,  and  1800  by  exempting 
all  members  in  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Tennessee  from  all  the  rules  respecting  slavery.  In 
the  Discipline  of  this  year  also  we  find  this:  "Let  your 
preachers  from  time  to  time,  .  .  .  admonish  and  ex- 
hort all  slaves  to  render  due  respect  and  obedience  to 
the  commands  and  interests  of  their  respective  mem- 
bers."12 

The  Discipline  of  1808  contains  only  three  para- 
graphs relating  to  slavery :  one  referring  to  official  mem- 
bers being  slave-holders,  and  another  to  slave-holding 

"Matlack,  p.  64.  11  Ibid,  p.  65. 

12  Discipline,  1804,  pp.  215,  216. 

18 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


preachers,  and  a  new  provision  allowing  the  Annual 
Conferences  to  regulate  the  traffic  in  slaves  within  their 
own  territory.  The  other  provisions  contained  in  the 
Discipline  of  1804  relating  to  slavery  were  left  out. 
In  1820  the  paragraph  allowing  Annual  Conferences  to 
regulate  the  slave  traffic  of  the  members  was  rescinded. 
In  1824  the  section  on  slavery  was  amended  for  the  last 
time  until  I860.13  A  summary  of  the  sections  of  the 
Discipline  of  that  year  (1824)  bearing  on  slavery  is  as 
follows:  (1)  The  Church  is  convinced  of  the  great  evil 
of  slavery,  and  slave-holders  are  prohibited  from  hold- 
ing official  positions  in  the  Church,  where  the  State  laws 
will  admit  emancipation.  (2)  A  minister  who  becomes 
a  slave-holder  must  either  cease  to  be  a  minister  or 
emancipate  his  slaves.  (3)  The  preachers  are  to  see 
that  the  slaves  are  given  religious  instruction.  (4)  Col- 
ored preachers  and  official  members  are  to  have  the 
same  rights  as  others  in  the  District  and  Quarterly  Con- 
ferences. (5)  Annual  Conferences  are  given  the  privi- 
lege of  employing  colored  preachers.14 

When  the  anti-slavery  agitation  fathered  by  Garri- 
son began,  in  the  early  thirties,15  it  met  a  considerable 
response  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  a 
number  of  Methodist  anti-slavery  societies  were  formed. 
In  June,  1835,  the  New  England  Methodist  ministers 
organized  an  anti-slavery  society,  and  also  in  the  same 
year  another  society  was  organized  by  the  ministers  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Conference.  During  this  year  one 
of  the  strong  anti-slavery  members  of  the  last  named 
Conference  sent  Mr.  Garrison's  paper,  The  Liberator, 
free  of  charge  for  six  months  to  all  ministers  of  his 
Conference,16  and  Mr.  Garrison  himself  commended  the 

13  Matlack,  p.  71. 

14  Matlack,  pp.  71,  72. 

15  The  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  organized  in  Philadel- 
phia, December,  1833.  "Kise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in 
America,"  Wilson,  chap,  xviii. 

16  Matlack,  pp.  85-87. 

19 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


courage  of  the  Methodists  of  Boston  for  their  brave 
stand  on  the  question  of  slavery.17 

Early  Methodist  anti-slavery  sentiment  seemed  to 
be  confined,  however,  largely  to  New  England,  while 
many  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  Church  were 
opposed  to  abolition.18  In  September,  1835,  a  pastoral 
letter  from  Bishops  Hedding  and  Emory  was  addressed 
to  the  New  England  and  New  Hampshire  Conferences, 
in  which  they  state,  "We  have  found  no  such  excitement 
with  any  of  them  [Conferences]  except  yours,"  and 
they  regard  the  general  agitation  as  a  "deep  political 
game,"  in  which  the  ministers  ought  not  to  be  drawn. 
They  further  urge  the  "members  and  friends  every- 
where" to  discountenance  all  ministers  from  agitating 
the  subject  "from  the  pulpit  or  otherwise."19 

In  the  General  Conference  of  1836,  which  met  at 
Cincinnati,  considerable  excitement  was  caused  by  two 
members  of  that  body,  from  the  New  Hampshire  Con- 
ference, attending  a  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  where  each  made  a  short  address.  A 
resolution  was  introduced  into  the  Conference  condemn- 
ing their  action,  which  passed  by  122  yeas  to  only 
11  nays.  Another  resolution  was  passed  at  the  same 
time,  condemning  "Modern  abolitionism,  and  wholly 
disclaiming  any  right,  wish,  or  intention  to  interfere  in 
the  civil  and  political  relation  between  master  and 
slave  as  it  exists  in  the  slave-holding  States  of  the 
Union."  This  resolution  passed  by  about  the  same 
vote  as  the  former — 120  yeas  to  14  nays.20  This  vote 
shows  how  weak  was  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  in  the 
Church  at  this  time. 

In  this  same  year  the  pastoral  letter,  published  by 
the  authority  of  the  General  Conference  and  signed 
by  all  the  bishops,  exhorts  all  "to  abstain  from  all  abo- 
lition movements  and  associations  and  to  refrain  from 

17 ' 1  National  Sermons, ' '  Haven.    Introduction,  p.  vii. 
18Matlack,  pp.  87-89.     19Matlack,  p.  90.      20  Ibid,  pp.  93-102. 

20 


Status  at  the  Opening  oj  the  War. 


patronizing  any  of  their  publications. ' '  During  the 
next  few  years  following  we  find  Southern  Conferences 
passing  resolutions  declaring  slavery  a  domestic  and 
civil  institution,  and  not  a  proper  subject  of  Church 
interference.  In  1837  the  Georgia  Conference  declared 
slavery  not  a  moral  wrong,  and  an  institution  of  which 
the  Church  has  nothing  to  do.  In  1838  the  South  Caro- 
lina Conference  passed  similar  resolutions.21 

Between  the  General  Conferences  of  1836  and  1840  - 
considerable  trouble  was  experienced  in  several  of  the 
Annual  Conferences  over  the  question  of  abolition.  In 
a  number  of  cases  ministers  were  tried  for  being  aboli- 
tionists, and  some  young  men  were  refused  ministerial 
orders  because  of  their  abolition  sentiment.22  The 
Philadelphia  Conference,  for  instance,  from  1837  for  ten 
years  asked  each  candidate  for  admission  into  the  Con- 
ference, "Are  you  an  abolitionist?"  and  unless  this 
question  was  answered  in  the  negative  they  were  not 
received.23  Among  the  Conferences  before  whom  abo- 
lition ministers  were  brought  for  trial  were  the  Pitts- 
burgh, Erie,  and  New  York. 

This  harsh  treatment  of  the  abolitionists  by  the 
Church,  instead  of  crushing  the  movement,  tended  to 
increase  it.  A  number  of  anti-slavery  papers  came  into 
existence,  edited  by  Methodist  ministers,  among  them 
being  The  Wesley  an  Journal,  published  in  Hallo  well, 
Maine;  The  American  Wesleyan  Observer,  edited  by 
Revs.  Orange  Scott  and  J.  Hall,  of  Lowell,  Mass. ;  and 
The  Zion's  Watchman,  edited  by  Rev.  LaRoy  Sunder- 
land and  published  in  New  York.  This  latter  paper  was 
the  most  important  and  influential  of  the  Methodist 
anti-slavery  journals.  During  these  years  also  several 
Methodist  anti-slavery  conventions  were  held.  Such  a 
convention  was  held  in  August,  1837,  in  the  Methodist 
Church  of  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  and  later  in  the  same  month 

21  Matlack,  p.  104.  22  Ibid,  pp.  112-120. 

23  Minutes  Philadelphia  Conference,  1837-1850. 

21 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


another  convention,  made  up  of  Methodist  laymen,  met 
in  New  York  Mills,  which  adopted  very  radical  abolition 
resolutions,24  and  still  another  such  convention  assem- 
bled at  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  October  of  that  year.  In  1838 
two  large  conventions  were  held :  one  on  May  2d  and  3d 
at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  another  on  November  21st  and  22d 
at  Lowell,  Mass.25. 

By  1840  anti-slavery  sentiment  seemed  to  have  con- 
siderably increased  within  the  Church,  especially  among 
the  laymen.  The  Annual  Conferences  just  prior  to  the 
General  Conference  of  1840  were  asked  to  vote  upon 
the  proposition,  which  originated  with  the  New  England 
Conference,  proposing  to  change  the  General  Rule  on 
slavery  so  that  it  should  forbid  "the  buying  or  selling, 
or  holding  men,  women,  or  children  as  slaves,  or  giving 
them  away  except  on  purpose  to  free  them."26  While 
this  was  voted  down  by  large  majorities  in  the  Confer- 
ences outside  of  New  England,  yet  the  vote  showed  some 
increase  in  abolition  sentiment  in  some  of  the  Northern 
Conferences.  Four  Conferences  adopted  memorials  ask- 
ing anti-slavery  action  to  be  taken  by  the  coming  Gen- 
eral Conference,  which  contained  the  names  of  over  one 
thousand  private  members  and  over  five  hundred  min- 
isters. A  memorial  from  New  York  City  contained 
nearly  twelve  hundred  names.27 

The  continued  persecution  of  abolitionists  within  the 
Church  and  the  failure  of  the  General  Conference  of  1840 
to  take  any  advanced  anti-slavery  action  gave  rise  to  the 
secession  from  the  Church  of  a  considerable  number  of 
dissatisfied  persons.  In  Ohio,  New  York,  and  Michigan, 
as  early  as  1839,  a  number  of  small  societies  withdrew 
from  the  Church  and  organized  independent  congrega- 
tions. On  May  31,  1843,  a  convention  of  the  dissatis- 
fied anti-slavery  Methodists  was  called  at  Utica,  N.  Y., 
and  there  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Connection  of  Amer- 

24  Matlack,  p.  125.  26  Ibid,  p.  133. 

25  Ibid,  pp.  126,  127.  27  Ibid,  pp.  133,  134. 

22 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


ica  was  organized.28  Eighteen  months  after  its  organi- 
zation the  membership  of  this  new  anti-slavery  Church 
was  reported  as  fifteen  thousand. 

From  the  years  1840  to  1844  the  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  greatly  in- 
creased. The  incident  which  was  the  direct  cause  of 
the  increase  of  this  sentiment  was  the  action  of  a  Mary- 
land pro-slavery  convention  which  met  in  the  winter 
of  1841-42.  This  convention  passed  resolutions  asking 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  to  pass  a  law  which  would 
result  in  either  driving  the  free  Negroes  from  the  State 
or  reduce  them  to  bondage.  This  action  aroused  Metho- 
dists all  over  the  North,  because  many  of  the  free  Ne- 
groes of  Maryland  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.29 

In  an  editorial  of  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Jour- 
nal, which  before  had  been  silent  on  the  question  of 
slavery,  the  editor  says,  "The  questions  which  we  were 
told  it  was  dangerous  to  discuss  are  not  forced  upon  us 
by  those  who  conjured  us  to  be  silent  .  .  .  and  with 
the  blessing  of  God,  we  will  not  discuss  them  to  the 
heart's  content  of  the  slave-holders'  convention."30 
Large  Methodist  anti-slavery  conventions  were  held,  es- 
pecially in  New  England,  protesting  against  this  pro- 
slavery  action  in  Maryland,  and  there  was  considerable 
talk  of  "separation  from  the  South."31  This  discussion 
and  agitation  was  continued  in  all  the  Church  papers, 
both  North  and  South,  and  in  the  various  Conferences 
and  conventions  until  the  convening  of  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1844,  when  the  great  anti-slavery  crisis  was 
reached. 

28 ' '  History  of  the  Christian  Church, ' '  Hurst,  vol.  ii,  p.  894. 

29  "The  Great  Secession,"  Elliott,  pp.  237,  238. 

30  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Jan.,  1842.  The  notice  of 
this  subject  in  the  Christian  Advocate  created  considerable  alarm 
in  the  South,  and  predictions  were  made,  if  it  continued  to  take 
part  in  the  discussion  of  slavery,  the  paper  would  not  circulate  in 
the  South.    (Elliott,  p.  238.) 

31  Matlack,  pp.  151,  152. 

23 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


The  General  Conference  met  in  New  York  on  May 
1,  1844.  The  question  of  slavery  came  up  early  in  the 
session,  in  connection  with  an  appeal  of  a  member  of 
the  Baltimore  Conference,  who  had  been  suspended  from 
his  ministerial  standing  for  refusing  to  manumit  cer- 
tain slaves  which  had  come  into  his  possession  through 
marriage.  After  a  discussion  which  covered  five  days 
the  General  Conference  sustained  the  action  of  the  Balti- 
more Conference  by  a  vote  of  117  to  56. 32 

The  great  discussion  over  slavery,  however,  came  up 
in  connection  with  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on 
Episcopacy  on  May  21st.  Bishop  James  0.  Andrew,  of 
Georgia,  had  a  slave  girl  left  him  by  an  old  lady  of 
Augusta,  Ga.,  on  condition  that  he  should  liberate  her 
and  send  her  to  Liberia,  with  her  consent.  But  on 
reaching  the  required  age  the  girl  refused  to  go  to 
Liberia,  and  remained  legally  the  property  of  Bishop 
Andrew.  He  also  had  inherited  from  his  first  wife  a 
slave  boy,  which  he  could  not  free,  and  on  his  second 
marriage  he  married  a  lady  who  had  inherited  slaves 
from  a  former  husband's  estate.33 

On  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy  a 
resolution  was  offered  requesting  Bishop  Andrew  to  re- 
sign his  office  as  a  bishop.  After  considerable  discus- 
sion, the  next  day  a  substitute  motion  for  the  above 
resolution  was  offered,  stating  "that  it  is  the  sense  of 
this  General  Conference  that  he  desist  from  the  exer- 
cise of  this  office  so  long  as  this  impediment  remains.'* 
The  discussion  of  this  substitute  motion  lasted  ten  days, 
and  finally  on  June  1st  the  substitute  was  carried  by 
a  vote  of  110  yeas  to  68  nays.34 

32  Methodist  Church  Property  Case,  pp.  57-59. 

33 Ibid.  pp.  61,  62  for  Bishop  Andrew's  letter  explaining  his 
connection  with  slavery.  Also  "Life  and  Letters  of  Bishop  An- 
drew, "  G.  G.  Smith,  chap,  ix,  pp.  336-385. 

54  Methodist  Church  Property  Case,  pp.  63-66.  Also  Eeport  of 
Debates  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844,  pp.  188-191.  This 
source  gives  the  vote  as  111  to  69. 

24 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


On  June  3d  a  series  of  resolutions  was  offered  by 
Dr.  Capers,  of  South  Carolina,  providing  for  a  separa- 
tion of  the  Church,  North  and  South,  and  these  resolu- 
tions were  referred  to  a  special  committee  of  nine,  which 
was  to  report  as  soon  as  possible.  On  June  5th  a  dec- 
laration of  the  delegates  of  the  Conferences  in  the  slave- 
holding  States,  signed  by  fifty-two  names,  was  pre- 
sented, which  declared  "that  the  continued  agitation  of 
the  subject  of  slavery  and  abolition  in  a  portion  of  the 
Church ;  the  frequent  action  on  that  subject  in  the  Gen- 
eral Conference;  and  especially  the  extra  judicial  pro- 
ceedings against  Bishop  Andrew  .  .  .  must  produce  a 
state  of  things  in  the  South  which  renders  a  continuance 
of  the  jurisdiction  of  this  General  Conference  incon- 
sistent with  the  success  of  the  ministry  in  the  slave- 
holding  States/'35 

On  June  8th  the  special  committee  of  nine,  to  whom 
had  been  referred  all  matters  relating  to  the  separation 
of  the  Church,  reported  in  a  series  of  eleven  resolutions. 
These  resolutions  provided  for  the  separation  of  the 
Church,  in  the  slave-holding  States,  from  the  Church  in 
the  North,  ' i  should  the  Annual  Conferences  in  the  slave- 
holding  States  find  it  necessary  to  unite  in  a  distinct 
ecclesiastical  connection."36  The  General  Conference 
adjourned  June  10th. 

On  the  morning  immediately  after  the  adjournment 
the  Southern  delegates  met  in  New  York  City  and  agreed 
to  call  a  convention  of  the  Southern  Churches,  to  meet 
at  Louisville,  Ky.,  on  the  first  day  of  May  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1845.  These  delegates  drew  up  an  address 
to  the  ministers  and  members  in  the  Southern  States 
and  Territories,  stating  in  part  "that  the  various  action 
of  the  majority  of  the  General  Conference  at  its  recent 
session,  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  abolition,  has  been 

an  Ibid,  p.  68. 

30  Eeport  of  Debates  in  the  General  Conference,  1844,  pp.  217- 
219.  Also  Methodist  Church  Property  Case,  pp.  88-90;  also  Mat- 
lack,  pp.  175,  176. 

25 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


such  as  to  render  it  necessary,  in  the  judgment  of  those 
addressing  you,  to  call  attention  to  the  proscription  and 
disability  under  which  the  Southern  portion  of  the 
Church  must  of  necessity  labour,  .  .  .  unless  some 
measures  are  adopted  to  free  the  minority  of  the  South 
from  the  oppressive  jurisdiction  of  the  majority  in  the 
North."  This  letter  was  signed  by  fifty-one  Southern 
delegates,  representing  thirteen  Southern  Annual  Con- 
ferences.37 

The  Southern  Conferences  all  approved  of  the  con- 
vention which  had  been  called  to  meet  at  Louisville  in 
May,  1845,  and  each  Conference  appointed  delegates. 
When  this  convention,  representing  the  Church  in  the 
South,  met,  at  the  appointed  time,  it  was  decided  by  a 
vote  of  94  to  3  to  separate  from  the  Church,  and  a  new 
Church,  to  be  known  as  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  was  then  and  there  organized.38 

We  pause  now  in  the  narrative  to  take  a  glance  at 
the  anti-slavery  contest  in  some  of  the  other  Churches. 
The  contest  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  more  nearly  co- 
incided with  that  in  the  Methodist.  As  early  as  1787 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  recommended 
' '  in  the  warmest  terms,  to  all  the  Churches  and  families 
under  their  care,  to  do  everything  in  their  power,  con- 
sistent with  the  civil  rights  of  society,  to  promote  the 
abolition  of  slavery.39  The  General  Assemblies  down  to 
1818  took  similar  action.  From  1835  to  1837  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  provoked  an  exciting  discussion  in  the 
General  Assemblies,  which  ended  by  laying  on  the  table 
the  addresses  by  the  abolitionist  members  and  expelling 
four  synods  affected  by  abolition.    In  1838  the  Church 

37  The  documents  relating  to  the  formation  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  are  collected  in  the  Methodist  Property 
Case,  p.  90  and  following. 

38  For  the  action  of  all  the  Southern  Conferences  in  regard  to 
the  division  of  the  Church  see  ' '  Organization  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,"  Bedford,  Appendix,  pp.  594-628.  Also 
Church  Property  Case,  pp.  92-98. 

39  Matlack,  p.  356. 

26 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


split  into  the  Old  and  New  School  upon  doctrinal  ques- 
tions. The  New  School  in  1839  referred  the  matter  of 
slavery  to  the  local  presbyteries;  in  1840  certain  pres- 
byteries, which  had  excluded  slave-holders  from  their 
pulpits  and  communion  tables,  were  asked  to  rescind 
their  action;  in  1843  the  Assembly  did  "not  think  it 
for  the  edification  of  the  Church  to  take  any  action  on 
the  subject."  In  the  General  Assemblies  of  1846,  '49, 
'50,  '53,  slavery  was  condemned.  In  1857  it  was  re- 
ported to  the  General  Assembly  that  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Lexington  South,  many  ministers,  ruling  elders,  and 
members  "held  slaves  from  principle  and  of  choice,  be- 
lieving it  to  be,  according  to  the  Bible,  right."  The 
Assembly  called  upon  that  presbytery  to  review  and 
rectify  their  position,  stating  that  "such  doctrines  and 
practices  can  not  be  permanently  tolerated  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church."  The  Old  School  Assembly  in  1845 
condemned  the  apostles,  for  "they  did  not  make  the 
holding  of  slaves  a  bar  to  communion,  and  therefore 
the  Church  has  no  authority  to  do  so."  In  the  Assem- 
blies of  1846,  '49,  '50  slavery  was  condemned,  but  from 
1850  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  the  subject  of 
slavery  was  laid  on  the  table.40 

The  Baptist  Church,  unlike  the  Methodist  and  Pres- 
byterian, had  no  great  struggle,  as  a  denomination,  over 
the  question  of  slavery,  which  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  Baptist  Church  had  no  central  legislative  body.  In 
this  denomination,  however,  a  separate  Anti-Slave  Mis- 
sionary Board  was  sustained  for  many  years,  and  the 
Free-Will  Baptists  refused  fellowship  to  all  slave-holders 
as  early  as  1839.41 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ignored  the  slavery 
question  in  its  ecclesiastical  assemblies,  but  there  was, 
however,  considerable  controversy  among  individuals 

40 "  Slavery  and  Abolition, 7 '  A.  B.  Hart,  pp.  213,  214.  Baird, 
' '  History  of  the  New  School, ' 9  pp.  506-558. 
41  Matlack,  p.  354. 

27 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


within  the  Church,  and  in  1861,  at  a  convention  of  dele- 
gates from  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Con- 
federate States,  held  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  definite  action 
was  taken  to  separate  from  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States.42 

We  return  now  to  the  Methodist  Church.  In  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Division  of  the  Church, 
which  had  been  adopted  by  the  General  Conference  of 
1844,  the  first  resolve  states  "that,  should  the  delegates 
from  the  conferences  in  the  slave-holding  States,  find  it 
necessary  to  unite  in  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  connection, 
the  following  rule  shall  be  observed  with  regard  to  the 
northern  boundary.  .  .  .  All  the  societies,  stations,  and 
conferences  adhering  to  the  Church  in  the  South,  by  a 
vote  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  said  societies,  sta- 
tions and  conferences,  shall  remain  under  the  unmolested 
pastoral  care  of  the  Southern  Church ;  and  the  ministers 
of  the  M.  E.  Church  shall  in  no  wise  attempt  to  organize 
Churches  or  societies  within  the  limits  of  the  Church 
South,  nor  shall  they  attempt  to  exercise  any  pastoral 
oversight  therein ;  it  being  understood  that  the  ministry 
of  the  South  reciprocally  observe  the  same  rule  in  re- 
lation to  stations,  societies  and  conferences  adhering  by 
vote  of  a  majority,  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  provided  also 
that  this  rule  shall  apply  only  to  societies,  stations  and 
conferences  bordering  on  the  line  of  division,  and  not  to 
interior  charges  which  shall  in  all  cases  be  left  to  the 
care  of  that  church  within  whose  territory  they  are 
situated."43 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  North 
claimed  that  the  Church  South  had  violated  their  agree- 
ment made  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844,  in  that 
they  proceeded  immediately  to  organize  a  separate 
Church  without  waiting  for  the  Annual  Conferences  in 
the  South  to  vote  upon  the  division,  which  action  they 

"Zion's  Herald,  Aug.  21,  1861. 

43  Debates  in  the  General  Conference,  1844,  pp.  217-219. 

28 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


claimed  invalidated  the  whole  plan  of  separation.  Im- 
mediately each  Church  began  to  make  great  efforts  to 
retain  the  border,  and  there  was  more  or  less  constant 
conflict  between  them,  along  the  border,  up  unto  and 
through  the  Civil  War.  Each  side  claimed  exclusive 
rights  to  be  there,  and  each  posed  as  being  basely  per- 
secuted by  the  other.  The  contest  between  the  Churches 
was  especially  severe  in  Western  Virginia,44  Missouri, 
and  Kentucky.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  a 
Church  service  conducted  by  one  side  of  the  contro- 
versy to  be  broken  up  by  a  mob  representing  the  other. 
In  Wood  County,  Va.,  a  grand  jury  for  the  superior 
court  declared  that  the  Western  Christian  Advocate,  a 
paper  published  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was 
' 'an  incendiary  publication  printed  with  the  intent  to 
make  insurrection  within  the  Commonwealth  of  Vir- 
ginia," and  to  read  it  or  even  receive  it  was  deemed  an 
act  of  felony,  and  the  person  "convicted  thereof  shall 
be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  of  this 
Commonwealth  for  not  less  than  two  years  nor  more 
than  five."45 

With  the  beginning  of  the  Kansas  struggle  the  bit- 
terness between  the  two  Churches  increased  consider- 
ably, especially  in  Western  Missouri.  One  pastor  (Meth- 
odist Episcopal)  writing  from  Platte  County  in  1855, 
says,  "I  am  still  threatened  with  a  coat  of  tar  and 
feathers,  but  as  yet  none  have  undertaken  the  enter- 
prise."46 On  Sunday,  June  24,  1855,  a  mob  of  about 
one  hundred  men  broke  up  a  small  congregation  in 
Platte  County  and  compelled  the  two  preachers  in 
charge  of  the  services  to  sign  a  statement  that  they 
would  not  preach  or  hold  any  more  meetings  in  the 
county.47    In  August  of  the  same  year  another  Metho- 

44 ' '  Cleavage  between  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia, ; '  Ambler, 
"Am.  Hist.  Kev.,"  July  1910,  pp.  762-780. 
45Matlack,  pp.  187,  188. 
46  Central  Christian  Advocate,  June  14,  1855. 
"Central,  June  19,  1855. 

29 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


dist  preacher  in  Western  Missouri  was  taken  by  a  gang 
of  eighteen  men  to  the  county  seat,  accused  of  preaching 
abolition  doctrines  and  circulating  abolition  literature, 
and  after  a  public  meeting  in  the  courthouse  he  was 
given  seven  days  to  leave  the  State.48 

In  the  spring  of  1855  a  seminary — the  Missouri  Con- 
ference Seminary — located  at  Jackson,  Mo.,  sought  to 
obtain  a  charter  from  the  Legislature.  Objection  to 
granting  the  charter  was  raised  on  the  ground  that  one 
of  the  incorporators,  a  Rev.  Mr.  Houts,  was  a  commu- 
nicant of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Long  and 
bitter  debate  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  was  denounced  as  a  company  of 
abilitionists  and  free-soilers,  and  when  the  vote  was 
finally  take  the  charter  was  refused — 59  to  36. 49  In 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  Missouri  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  announced  to  be  held 
in  Independence,  Jackson  County,  Mo.  On  August  13th 
the  citizens  of  the  county  held  a  meeting  in  the  court- 
house for  the  purpose  of  remonstrating  against  the  hold- 
ing of  the  Conference  in  Independence,  and  passed  reso- 
lutions to  that  effect,  in  which  they  state,  "the  supposed 
anti-slavery  sentiment  and  opinions  of  the  ministers  and 
others  who  will  constitute  said  Conference  may  lead  to 
results  and  acts  to  be  regretted."30  This  warning  was 
evidently  taken  by  the  authorities  of  the  Missouri  Con- 
ference, for  the  announcement  was  made  soon  after  that 
the  session  of  the  Conference  would  be  held  in  St.  Louis 
instead  of  Independence.51 

One  of  the  most  atrocious  instances  of  pro-slavery 
interference  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  oc- 

48  Ibid,  Aug.  9,  1855. 

49  Ibid,  March  8,  1855.  The  Central  Christian  Advocate  is  a 
particularly  valuable  source  for  the  contest  in  Missouri  and  Kan- 
sas. It  was  published  in  St.  Louis  and  was  nearer  than  any  other 
Methodist  journal  to  the  scene  of  the  border  conflict. 

60  Western  Dispatch,  Independence,  Mo.,  Aug.  17,  1855,  copied 
in  the  Central,  Aug.  30,  1855. 
51  Central,  Sept.  29,  1855. 

30 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


curred  in  Rochester,  Andrew  County,  Mo.,  in  June,  1855. 
A  public  meeting  had  been  held  in  the  town,  in  which 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  been  declared  a 
" nuisance,  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  our  people,"  and 
stating  also  that  "  there  can  be  no  good  or  satisfactory 
reason  offered  why  a  Southern  community  should  toler- 
ate the  existence  of  a  church  in  their  midst,  which  de- 
clares that  its  members  can  not  hold  slaves,  that  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery  is  against  the  spirit  of  religion." 
The  preacher  in  charge  of  the  Rochester  Circuit  had 
not  listened  to  the  threats  of  this  meeting,  and  proceeded 
to  conduct  a  protracted  meeting,  but  on  going  to  the 
church  with  two  of  the  leading  laymen  of  the  congre- 
gation he  was  met  by  a  mob  of  from  eighty-five  to  one 
hundred  men;  one  of  the  laymen  with  him,  who  was 
over  seventy-one  years  of  age,  was  shot  and  almost  in- 
stantly killed,  and  the  minister  Was  taken,  tarred,  and 
feathered,  and  ordered  to  leave  town  immediately.52 

From  1845  to  1860  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
was  active  in  certain  districts  in  Northeastern  Texas, 
which  territory  was  included  in  the  Arkansas  Confer- 
ence. On  March  10,  1859,  the  Arkansas  Conference  con- 
vened at  Bonham,  Fannin  County,  Tex.,  presided  over 
by  Bishop  Janes.  The  next  day  a  public  meeting  was 
held  in  the  court-house,  presided  over  by  the  postmaster 
and  addressed  by  some  of  the  most  prominent  men  of 
the  county,  at  which  resolutions  were  adopted  stating: 
"Whereas,  A  secret  foe  lurks  in  our  midst  known  as 
the  Northern  Methodist  Church,  entertaining  sentiments 
antagonistic  to  the  institution  of  slavery ;  and,  Whereas, 
The  growth  of  this  enemy  Would  be  likely  to  endanger 
the  perpetuity  of  that  institution  in  Texas;  and, 
Whereas,  Sentiments  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the 
South  have  been  expressed  on  our  streets  by  Northern 
Methodist  preachers;   therefore,  Resolved,  That  the 

62  Copied  from  the  St.  Joseph  Gazette  by  the  Central,  June  26, 
1856.    Also  ibid,  July  10,  1856;  Aug.  14,  1856. 

31 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Northern  Methodist  Church  in  our  midst  is  a  screen  be- 
hind which  the  emissaries  of  a  Northern  political  party 
hide,  known  as  abolitionists,  and  is  dangerous  to  our  in- 
terests and  ought  not  be  tolerated;  Resolved  (2),  That 
the  expressed  sentiment  of  Northern  Methodist  preach- 
ers against  slavery  is  an  insult  to  our  people;  Resolved 
(3),  That  these  views  do  not  meet  the  views  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Fannin  County,  and  their  expression  must  there- 
fore be  stopped;  Resolved  (4),  That  a  committee  be  ap- 
pointed to  urge  the  Legislature  to  pass  laws  punishing 
the  utterance  of  such  sentiments;  Resolved  (5),  That  a 
committee  be  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  bishop  and 
ministers  of  the  Conference  and  warn  them  against  con- 
tinuing the  Conference."  The  sixth  resolution  states 
that  their  motto  is,  "  Peaceably  if  wre  can,  forcibly  if 
we  must,"  and  the  last  resolution  declares  that  they 
band  themselves  together  to  suppress  abolitionism  in 
our  midst,  and  to  henceforth  allow  no  public  expression 
of  abolition  doctrine  in  the  county.  On  Sunday  morning 
the  committee  of  about  fifty  men  went  to  the  church 
where  the  session  of  the  Conference  was  being  held,  and 
crowded  into  the  building  just  as  Bishop  Janes  had 
read  his  text  to  begin  his  sermon.  A  Judge  Roberts,  the 
spokesman  of  the  committee,  addressed  the  bishop  and 
told  him  of  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting;  the  reso- 
lutions were  then  read  and  the  Conference  given  two 
hours  to  decide  on  a  course  of  action.  The  bishop  then 
spoke  to  them  in  a  kindly  conciliatory  manner,  and  on 
their  departure  proceeded  with  his  sermon.  After  the 
services  a  meeting  of  the  ministers  was  held,  and  a 
committee  of  two  were  appointed  to  report  that  they, 
the  preachers,  would  refrain  from  preaching  until  they 
had  met  with  the  official  members  of  their  respective 
charges.53 

In  Kansas  Territory  a  number  of  1  'Northern"  Meth- 
53  Central,  April  27,  1859. 

32 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


odist  preachers  received  rough  handling  at  the  hands 
of  pro-slavery  mobs.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
was  far  more  active  in  the  Territory  from  the  beginning 
than  the  Church  South.  The  superintendent  of  the 
Southern  work  in  the  Territory  reported  in  1850  that 
there  were  "but  four  preachers  besides  the  superintend- 
ent laboring  among  the  settlers  and  four  laboring  among 
the  Indians,"54  while  in  that  same  year  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  reports  fourteen  preachers  besides  su- 
perintendents and  other  helpers,  and  about  one  thousand 
members.65  One  preacher  writing  from  Lawrence,  in 
July,  says,  "Our  work  increases  daily;  no  Church  is 
prospering  like  our  own  in  this  soil,  and  the  call  for 
preaching  is  in  almost  every  direction."56  The  pro- 
slavery  element  in  Kansas  was  very  bitter  against 
preachers  of  free-soil  opinion  and  a  number  of  ministers 
were  summarily  dealt  with.  One  of  the  most  famous 
instances  of  such  treatment  was  that  of  the  case  of  Rev. 
Pardee  Butler,  a  preacher  from  Missouri,  who  came  to 
Atchison  in  August,  1855,  for  the  purpose  of  starting 
East — according  to  the  Squatter  Sovereign,  a  pro-slavery 
paper  of  Atchison — "to  get  a  fresh  supply  of  free- 
settlers  from  the  penitentiaries  and  pest  houses  of  the 
Northern  States."57  He  expressed  his  opinion  rather 
too  freely  to  suit  the  pro-slavery  citizens  of  Atchison, 
who  sent  a  committee  to  him  to  request  his  signature 
of  certain  resolutions  previously  passed  by  a  meeting 
held  in  the  town.  On  Butler's  refusal  to  sign  the  reso- 
lutions he  was  placed  on  a  raft  of  two  logs  with  his 
baggage  and  sent  adrift  on  the  Missouri  River,  with 
warnings  never  to  return.  The  next  spring,  however, 
he  returned  to  Atchison  on  business,  and  again  he  was 
seized  by  a  mob,  which  threatened  to  shoot  him,  but 

54  Ibid,  April  26,  1855. 

55  Central,  July  26,  1855. 
58  Ibid,  July  19,  1855. 

"''Geary  and  Kansas,"  John  H.  Gihon,  p.  48. 

3  33 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


finally  tarred  and  feathered  him  instead,  and  sent  him 
out  of  town.58 

From  1844  to  1860  the  two  wings  of  the  Methodist 
Church  grew  gradually  farther  and  farther  apart,  the 
Church  in  the  North  becoming  more  and  more  em- 
phatic in  its  denunciation  of  the  institution  of  slavery, 
while  the  Church  in  the  South  grew  more  and  more 
energetic  in  its  defense.  During  this  period  slavery  was 
the  question  par  excellence  of  the  pulpits  and  the  Church 
press.  Hardly  an  issue  of  a  Church  paper,  North  or 
South,  for  twenty  years  before  the  war  but  had  some- 
thing to  say  upon  the  burning  question. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  which  met  in  Pittsburgh  in  1848  refused  to  re- 
ceive fraternal  greetings  from  the  Church  South.  In 
the  debate  over  the  question  one  delegate  said,  "The 
sympathies  of  this  General  Conference  are  entirely  on 
the  side  of  liberty  .  .  .  and  that  the  prevailing  sym- 
pathies of  the  Church  South  are  on  the  side  of  slavery. ' ' 
In  reporting  this  action  in  Z ion's  Herald,  the  editor 
stated  that  this  "important  act  is  not  only  a  declination 
of  fraternal  relations,  but  its  whole  import  is  a  verdict 
against  slavery.  .  .  .  Let  it  go  forth  that  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  rejects  all  alliance  with  pro- 
slavery  ecclesiastical  bodies."59 

Before  the  General  Conference  of  1856  there  was 
considerable  agitation  within  the  Church  over  the  ques- 
tion of  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  slavery.  The  ultra- 
anti-slavery  sentiment  favored  the  withdrawal  entirely 
from  slave  territory,  or  else  passing  a  rule  entirely  pro- 
hibiting slave-holding  by  Church  members.  This  course 
was  opposed  vigorously  by  the  majority  of  Methodists 
living  in  or  adjacent  to  slave  territory.    During  the 

58  Ibid,  pp.  75,  76.  This  whole  story  will  also  be  found  in  Re- 
port of  Comm.,  1st  and  2d  Sess.,  34th  Cong.,  vol.  2,  1855-56,  pp. 
260-264.  From  the  Eeport  of  the  House  Investigating  Comm.  sent 
to  Kansas  in  1856. 

69Matlack,  pp.  190,  191. 

34 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


years  1855  and  part  of  1856  there  was  a  bitter  contro- 
versy between  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  of 
Chicago,  and  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  of  St. 
Louis,  over  this  question,  and  most  of  the  other  Church 
papers  in  the  country  took  sides  with  either  one  or  the 
other  on  the  question  at  issue.  The  Northwestern  and 
the  Northern  Christian  Advocate,  with  Zion's  Herald, 
favored  a  change  in  the  rule  and  an  entire  withdrawal 
of  the  Church  from  all  connection  with  slavery,  while 
the  Central,  Western,  Pittsburgh,  and  New  York  Chris- 
tian Advocates  favored  no  change  in  the  rule  and  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  Church  in  slave  territory.  All  the 
Church  periodicals,  however,  claimed  to  hold  slavery  a 
great  evil  and  to  seek  its  extirpation.  The  editor  of 
the  Northwestern  Advocate  warns  the  brethren  in  the 
border  Conferences  that  they  "are  on  the  road  to  the 
Church  South  by  a  philosophical  necessity."60  To  this 
the  Central  replies  by  giving  the  reasons  why  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  will  not  fall  into  the  same  errors 
on  slavery  as  did  the  Church  South.  He  states:  "(1) 
We  went  to  a  tried  people — people  who  opposed  the 
Church  South  at  all  hazards  and  with  danger  to  them- 
selves. (2)  We  go  with  the  experience  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  constantly  before  our  eyes  and  with 
her  fate  as  a  warning.  (3)  The  guards  against  being 
betrayed  into  the  same  errors  are  much  greater  now 
than  they  were  in  the  early  history  of  the  Church.  We 
went  then  as  we  go  now,  to  be  sure,  avowedly  anti- 
slavery,  but  hailed  as  abolitionists  by  our  affectionate 
brethren.  (4)  The  radical  difference  in  the  spirit  of 
the  two  Churches  will  forever  prevent  any  affiliation. 
(5)  We  have  our  brethren  in  the  Free  States  to  exer- 
cise a  guardian  watch  care  over  the  Church  in  slave 
territory."61  In  a  later  issue  the  editor  of  the  Central 
says,  regarding  the  attitude  of  his  journal  toward 

60  Central,  July  26,  1855. 

61  Central,  Aug.  2,  1855. 

35 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


slavery,  "We  are  perfectly  willing  to  compare  notes 
with  the  Northivestern,  even  on  the  subject  of  conserva- 
tive, continued,  and  practical  opposition  to  slavery."62 
The  editor  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  says,  "It 
is  all  moonshine  to  talk  about  preachers  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  having  no  business  in  Slave 
States.  ...  It  is  nonsense  to  talk  of  excluding  all 
slave-holders  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."63 
Concerning  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  West- 
ern Virginia  in  1855,  a  correspondent  to  the  Central 
Christian  Advocate  writes:  "Without  relinquishing 
in  any  degree  the  position  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  has  occupied  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  this  Con- 
ference makes  progress  in  the  face  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  which  is  pro-slavery.  Thus 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  West  Virginia  is  a 
living  protest  against  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  uses  their 
authority,  by  way  of  discipline,  to  ameliorate  the  con- 
dition of  the  slave  and  to  prepare,  as  far  as  she  may, 
both  master  and  slave  for  emancipation."64  In  a  long 
article  in  a  Church  periodical  in  1855  on  "Slavery  and 
the  Church,"  Dr.  J.  P.  Durbin,  then  secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
sums  up  the  conservative  opinion  in  regard  to  slavery  as 
follows:  .  .  .  "The  relation  of  the  Church  to  slavery 
.  .  .  and  how  it  should  be  treated  by  the  Church,  con- 
stitute a  most  momentous  question.  To  answer  the  ques- 
tion the  New  Testament  must  be  the  guide.  (1)  There 
is  not  a  passage  in  the  New  Testament  expressive  of  ap- 
probation of  slavery.  (2)  The  early  Church  indicated 
her  disapproval  of  slavery  indirectly.  (3)  The  early 
Church  laid  down  general  principles  which,  when  car- 
ried out,  would  necessarily  work  its  abolition.  (4)  Find- 
ing slavery  in  existence,  the  early  Church  laid  down 

62  Ibid,  Aug.  16,  1855. 

63  Western  Christian  Advocate,  July  26,  1855. 

64  Central,  June  28,  1855. 

36 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


certain  rules  for  master  and  slave."  Then  he  proceeds 
to  point  out  the  similarity  of  conditions  in  regard  to 
slavery,  between  the  apostolic  and  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  Both  Churches  found  slavery  in  exist- 
ence; in  both  master  and  slave  were  converted  and 
brought  into  the  Church;  in  neither  Church  was  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave  a  bar  to  Church  member- 
ship ;  both  claimed  the  right  to  enforce  upon  master  and 
slave  their  respective  duties ;  and  last,  both  the  apostolic 
and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  clearly  main- 
tained their  disapproval  of  slavery  as  a  condition  of 
society  and  of  the  individual,  and  sought  its  extinction. 
Then  he  asks  the  question,  "What  more  can  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  do  to  bring  about  extirpation  of 
slavery  ? ' '  This  he  answers  by  stating  that,  ' '  instead  of 
separating  all  slave-holders  from  the  Church,  let  her 
retain  her  authority  over  them  and  enforce  the  duties 
which  grow  out  of  the  relation  of  a  Christian  master  to 
his  dependent  slave,  and  out  of  the  relation  of  both  to 
the  Church."  And  then  he  advocates  the  rigid  en- 
forcement of  Church  discipline,  compelling  masters  to 
recognize  marriage  between  slaves,  and  the  relation  of 
parents  and  children,  and  should  regulate  the  sale  and 
purchase  of  slaves,  which  provisions,  he  claims,  would 
tend  to  limit  the  power  of  the  master  over  the  slave,  and 
by  forbidding  the  separation  of  parents  and  children  the 
internal  slave-trade  would  be  broken  up,  and  this  would 
finally  lead  to  the  breaking  up  of  slavery  itself.05 

The  bishops  in  their  Episcopal  Address  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1856  have  this  to  say  regarding  the 
relation  of  the  Church  to  slavery :  1 '  We  have  six  Annual 
Conferences  which  are  wholly  or  in  part  in  slave  terri- 
tory, having  a  membership  of  143,000  (white)  and 
28,000  colored.  ...  In  our  judgment  the  existence  of 
these  Conferences  and  Churches  under  their  present  cir- 
cumstances does  not  tend  to  extend  or  perpetuate  slav- 

65  Central,  Aug.  30,  1855. 

37 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


ery.  They  are  known  to  be  organized  under  a  discipline 
which  characterizes  slavery  as  a  great  evil,  which  makes 
the  slave-holder  ineligibile  to  any  official  station  in  the 
Church  where  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he  lives 
will  admit  of  emancipation  .  .  .  which  prohibits  the 
buying  and  selling  of  man,  woman  or  children  with  an 
intention  to  enslave  them,  and  enquires  what  shall  be 
done  for  the  extirpation  of  the  evil  of  slavery.  "CG 

In  the  General  Conference  of  1856  the  committee  re- 
ported favorably  to  change  the  General  Rule  on  Slav- 
ery, making  it  more  denunciatory,  but  after  a  long  de- 
bate, covering  many  days,  a  vote  on  the  change  was 
prevented.  If  the  rule  on  slavery  had  been  changed  at 
this  time,  shutting  out  slave-holders  from  Church  mem- 
bership, the  Church  in  the  Border  States  would  with- 
out doubt  have  suffered  a  considerable  loss,  and  would 
perhaps  have  resulted  in  practically  driving  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  from  slave  territory.  Previous 
to  the  General  Conference  of  1856  there  was  considerable 
talk  of  a  second  division  of  the  Church  over  the  slavery 
question,  especially  on  the  part  of  the  editor  of  the 
Northtvestern  Christian  Advocate  and  others  who  took 
his  view  of  the  situation — the  extreme  anti-slavery  wing,  - 
or,  as  they  were  then  called,  the  "New  Rulists."07 

Between  the  General  Conferences  of  1856  and  1860 
the  agitation  over  the  adoption  of  the  "New  Rules"  or 
slavery  continued,  and  by  the  time  the  next  General 
Conference  convened,  in  May,  1860,  its  passage  was 
practically  assured.    All  the  important  Church  papers 

06  General  Conference  Journal,  1856,  pp.  199,  200. 

67 In  an  article  in  the  Am.  Hist.  Eev.,  July,  1911,  on  "The 
Fight  for  the  Northwest,"  by  W.  E.  Dodd,  the  statement  is  made 
that  the  Conferences  along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  even 
those  farther  north,  were  weakening  in  their  anti-slavery  attitude 
during  the  years  1856-60.  There  was  some  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  how  the  Church  should  deal  with  slavery,  and  the  border  Con- 
ferences were  naturally  more  conservative  than  others  farther 
north,  but  I  find  no  traces  of  weakening,  nor  going  over  to  the 
South,  but  rather  a  tendency  to  become  more  strongly  anti-slavery. 

38 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


had  expressed  themselves  as  favorable  to  its  passage  ex- 
cept the  Advocate  and  Journal,  of  New  York.  The 
editor  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  expresses  his 
position  in  these  definite  terms :  "  ( 1 )  The  General  Rule 
should  be  so  amended  as  to  condemn,  .  .  .  slave-hold- 
ing, as  explicitly  as  it  condemns  slave-buying  and  sell- 
ing. (2)  That  the  chapter  should  be  amended  in  con- 
formity with  the  amended  General  Rules  so  as  to  con- 
demn slave-holding  in  the  membership  without  regard 
to  the  distinction  of  official  and  unofficial  members."68 

When  the  General  Conference  convened  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  May  1,  1860,  the  Committee  on  Slavery  was  well- 
nigh  swamped  with  memorials.  There  were  811  peti- 
tions, signed  by  45,857  names,  asking  for  a  change  of 
the  rule  in  slavery,  and  137,  with  3,999  signers,  asking 
that  no  change  be  made.69  The  largest  number  of  me- 
morials advocating  no  change  came  from  the  New  York 
East  and  New  York  Conferences,  and  over  half  the  sign- 
ers were  from  territory  contiguous  to  New  York,  which 
shows  the  influence  of  the  New  York  Christian  Advocate. 
This  General  Conference  expressed  its  disapproval  of 
the  conservative  position  of  the  New  York  Christian  Ad- 
vocate by  electing  a  new  editor,  Dr.  Abel  Stevens;  the 
retiring  editor  receiving  only  73  votes,  while  his  oppo- 
nent, Dr.  Edward  Thomson,  received  142. 70  A  new 
editor  was  also  elected  for  the  Central  Christian  Advo- 
cate, at  St.  Louis.  Charles  Elliott,  the  new  editor,  re- 
ceiving 131  votes,  the  retiring  editor  83. 71  The  reason 
for  this  change  being  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  New 
York  Advocate. 

This  General  Conference,  after  another  long  discus- 
sion, passed  what  was  known  as  the  New  Chapter  on 
Slavery,  which  read:  "We  believe  that  the  buying,  sell- 

68  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Jan.  5,  1859. 

69  General  Conference  Journal,  1860,  pp.  425-426.  For  a  list 
of  petitions  and  memorials  presented  to  the  General  Conference  of 
1860  see  Appendix  F. 

vo  Ibid,  p.  239.  «  Ibid,  p.  242. 

39 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


ing,  or  holding  of  human  beings  as  chattels  is  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  God  and  nature;  inconsistent  with  the 
Golden  Rule,  and  with  that  rule  in  our  Discipline  which 
requires  all  who  desire  to  remain  among  us  to  do  no 
harm,  and  to  avoid  evil  of  every  kind.  We  therefore 
affectionately  admonish  all  our  preachers  and  people  to 
keep  themselves  pure  from  this  great  evil,  and  to  seek 
its  extirpation  by  all  lawful  and  Christian  means. '  '72 

After  the  passage  of  the  New  Chapter  there  was  con- 
siderable protest  from  along  the  border,  especially  from 
the  Baltimore,  East  Baltimore,  and  Western  Virginia 
Conferences.73  This  resulted  in  the  withdrawal  of  a 
number  of  ministers  and  members  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  many  of  whom  went  over  to  the 
Church  South.  There  were  also,  at  this  time,  a  few 
independent  congregations  organized  in  Baltimore,  made 
up  of  those  who  objected  to  this  new  rule  on  slavery, 
which  went  under  the  name  of  the  Central  Methodist 
Church.74 

The  slavery  struggle  within  the  Church  was  very 
naturally  influenced  by  the  larger  struggle  going  on  in 
the  Nation  and  by  the  various  questions  relating  to 
slavery  and  slavery  extension,  which  came  before  Con- 
gress between  the  years  1850  and  1860.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  through  its  periodicals  especially, 
almost  invariably  took  a  strong  anti-slavery  position. 
While  the  great  debate  over  Mr.  Clay's  Compromise 
measure  of  1850  was  in  progress  in  Congress,  the  Church 
press  "almost  universally"  throughout  the  North  took 
a  stand  against  the  measure,75  and  after  Mr.  Webster 
had  delivered  his  famous  seventh-of-March  speech  the 
Church  press  vented  their  disapproval  upon  him.76  As 

72  General  Conference  Journal,  1860.  Also  McPherson,  pp.  494- 
496. 

"See  chap,  ii  for  conditions  in  the  border  Conferences. 
74  McPherson,  pp.  525-533. 

nZion's  Herald,  March  27,  1850;  also  nest  em,  April  3,  1850. 
""History  of  the  United  States,"  Ehodes,  vol.  i,  p.  155. 

40 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


an  example  of  the  editorials  in  the  Methodist  journals 
upon  this  question  I  quote  one  from  the  Western  Chris- 
tian Advocate,  from  the  able  pen  of  Matthew  Simpson, 
then  editor  of  that  journal  :77  "What  do  they  (the  South- 
ern statesmen)  expect  to  accomplish  by  the  present 
threats  (of  secession)  ?  We  answer,  (1)  They  expect 
to  procure  the  passage  of  a  bill  containing  strong  and 
offensive  provisions  in  reference  to  the  recapture  of 
fugitive  slaves.  (2)  They  expect  to  procure  the  passage 
of  territorial  bills,  without  any  prohibition  of  slavery. 

"These  are  the  measures  for  which  they  contend, 
and  to  accomplish  their  ends  they  must  frighten  the 
North,  or  at  least  they  must  make  such  a  demonstration 
as  shall  enable  the  Northern  men  with  Southern  prin- 
ciples to  say  that  they  were  frightened  into  a  compro- 
mise. A  compromise  of  what?  Either  California  has 
a  right  to  prohibit  slavery  or  she  has  not.  If  she  has, 
why  purchase  that  right  by  a  compromise,  on  any  other 
question?  If  she  has  not  that  right,  let  her  be  re- 
jected, and  let  it  be  published  to  the  world  that,  in 
our  glorious  Union,  men  have  no  right  to  be  free  unless 
they  buy  it  by  a  compromise.  .  .  . 

"A  fugitive  slave  bill  with  odious  features  and  a  Ter- 
ritorial bill  without  the  Proviso  (Wilmot)  we  expect  will 
be  passed.  Already  several  Northern  leaders,  among 
whom  Mr.  Webster  ranks  conspicuous,  have  gone  over  to 
the  South  and  under  the  fair  name  of  Compromise  and 
of  settling  all  questions,  they  will  probably  procure  a 
majority  to  go  with  them.  What  will  be  the  result  ?  Will 
a  settlement  be  effected  ?  Will  the  agitation  cease  ?  We 
answer,  no."  The  working  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  he 
goes  on  to  state,  will  keep  the  whole  country  in  a  state  of 
excitement.  .  .  .  "Averse  as  we  are  to  all  inter-med- 
dling, by  the  religious  press  in  party  politics,  yet  we 
would  consider  ourselves  irreverent  to  our  trust,  did  we 
not  utter  our  voice  on  this  question." 
"  Western,  April  3,  1850. 

41 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


In  the  great  debate  in  Congress  over  the  Compromise 
Bill  of  1850,  the  split  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
received  some  attention.  Calhoun,  speaking  of  the  cords 
binding  the  States  together,  said,  '  •  Some  are  spiritual  or 
ecclesiastical,  some  political,  others  social.  .  .  .  The 
strongest  of  those  of  a  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  nature 
consisted  in  the  unity  of  the  great  religious  denomina- 
tions, all  of  which  originally  embraced  the  whole  Union. ' ' 
Here  follows  comments  as  to  the  organization  of  the 
Churches  in  the  United  States.  "All  this  combined," 
he  continues,  "contributed  greatly  to  strengthen  the 
bonds  of  the  Union."  The  strong  ties  which  held  each 
denomination  together  formed  a  strong  cord  to  hold  the 
whole  Union  together,  but  as  powerful  as  they  were, 
they  have  not  been  able  to  resist  the  explosive  effects  of 
slavery  agitation. 

"The  first  of  these  cords  which  snapped,  under  its 
explosive  force,  was  that  of  the  powerful  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  The  numerous  and  strong  ties  which  held 
it  together  are  all  broke  and  its  unity  gone.  They  now 
form  separate  Churches,  and  instead  of  that  feeling  of 
attachment  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  whole 
Church  which  was  formerly  felt — they  are  now  arrayed 
into  two  hostile  bodies,  engaged  in  litigation  about  what 
was  formerly  their  common  property. 

1 '  The  next  cord  that  snapped  was  that  of  the  Baptists, 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  respectable  of  the  denomi- 
nations. That  of  the  Presbyterians  is  not  entirely 
snapped,  but  some  of  its  strands  have  given  away.  That 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  is  the  only  one  of  the  four  great 
Protestant  denominations  which  remains  unbroken  and 
entire."78 

Webster,  in  his  famous  seventh-of-March  speech,  re- 
plying to  Calhoun,  also  made  reference  to  the  schism  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  these  words:  "The 
honorable  Senator  from  South  Carolina  the  other  day 

T8  Congressional  Globe,  vol.  xxi,  part  1,  p.  453. 

42 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


alluded  to  the  separation  of  that  great  religious  commu- 
nity, the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  That  separation 
was  brought  about  by  differences  of  opinion  upon  this 
particular  subject  of  slavery.  I  felt  great  concern  as  that 
dispute  went  on,  about  the  result.  I  was  in  hopes  that 
the  differences  of  opinion  might  be  adjusted  because  I 
looked  on  that  religious  denomination  as  one  of  the  great 
props  of  religion  and  morals  throughout  the  whole  coun- 
try, from  Maine  to  Georgia,  and  westward  to  our  utmost 
western  boundary.  The  result  was  against  my  wishes 
and  against  my  hopes.  I  have  read  all  their  proceedings 
and  all  their  arguments,  but  I  have  never  yet  been  able 
to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  any  real  ground 
for  that  separation,"  but  it  was  brought  about  by  lack 
of  " candor  and  charity."79 

That  the  snapping  of  the  ecclesiastical  cords  binding 
the  North  and  South  had  considerable  influence  in  mak- 
ing the  final  breach  between  the  sections,  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Indeed,  the  claim  has  been  made  by  various 
Church  writers  that  the  split  in  the  Churches  was  not 
only  the  first  break  between  the  sections,  but  was  the 
chief  cause  of  the  final  break.80 

The  question  might  be  fairly  raised  here,  Why  were 
the  Church  ties  the  first  to  give  way?  I  see  two  reasons 
why  this  was  true.  First,  because  the  governing  bodies 
of  the  Churches  at  that  time  were  composed  entirely  of 
ministers,  and  they  of  all  classes  of  men  were  the  least 
likely  to  compromise,  especially  on  questions  which  they 
considered  moral;  and  second,  because  the  Church  gen- 
erally in  the  North  had  come  to  look  upon  slavery  as  a 
great  sin,  and  they  looked  at  the  question  almost  solely 
from  that  standpoint,  thus  compelling  them  to  take  an 
uncompromising  position. 

The  Churches  and  Church  people  throughout  the 
North  were  also  very  much  aroused  by  the  introduction 

79 " Webster's  Works,"  vol.  v,  p.  331. 
""'The  Church  and  the  Rebellion,"  Stanton. 

43 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


in  Congress  by  Douglas  of  the  ''Kansas-Nebraska  Bill" 
and  its  threatened  repeal  of  the  Compromise  measures 
of  1820  and  1850.  "Perhaps  no  measure  before  Con- 
gress ever  excited  more  thoroughly  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious sentiments  of  the  nation."81  Mr.  Everett  pre- 
sented to  Congress  a  memorial  protesting  against  the 
bill,  signed  by  over  three  thousand  New  England  clergy- 
men of  various  religious  denominations,  and  the  reli- 
gious press  of  the  country  gave  large  space  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  measure.  The  editor  of  the  leading  Meth- 
odist journal  stated  in  a  long  editorial,  "To  admit  or 
to  tolerate  slavery  in  the  Territories,  .  .  .  justifies  the 
reproaches  of  the  civilized  world  upon  the  people  of  the 
United  States,"82  and  another  Methodist  journal  states 
editorially:  "We  see  the  religious  papers  in  the  North 
in  general  declare  against  the  bill,  on  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  morality  and  good  faith.  We  trust  every  citi- 
zen who  loves  his  country  will  use  his  influence  against 
the  bill."83  The  editor  of  Zion's  Herald,  of  Boston,  in 
the  issue  of  March  8,  1854,  says,  concerning  the  passage 
of  the  bill  by  the  Senators:  "We  feel  sick  at  heart  as  we 
sit  down  to  record  the  shameful  fact  that  the  United 
States  Senate  has  passed  the  Nebraska  Bill  by  a  vote 
of  37  yeas  to  15  nays.  This  is  a  treacherous  deed,  dis- 
graceful alike  to  the  Senate  and  the  Nation.  ...  It 
has  disgraced  the  South  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world; 
.  .  .  they  have  proved  themselves  to  be  false  to  their 
word,  covenant  breakers,  unworthy  of  the  respect  of 
honest  men,  deserving  only  of  contempt."84  .  .  . 

This  entrance  of  ministers  and  the  Church  press 
throughout  the  North  into  the  political  arena  aroused 
the  criticism  of  those  favoring  the  bill,  both  in  and  out 
of  Congress.  Mr.  Douglas,  on  the  floor  of  Congress, 
speaking  of  the  memorial  of  the  New  England  clergy- 

81  Wilson,  * 1  Kise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power, ' '  vol.  ii,  p.  393. 

82  Christian  Advocate,  March  2,  1854. 

83  Western,  March  1,  1851.       "  Zion's  Herald,  March  8,  1854. 

44 


Status  at  the  Opening  of  the  War. 


men:  "It  is  presented,"  he  said,  "by  a  denomination 
of  men  calling  themselves  preachers  of  the  gospel,  who 
come  forward  with  an  atrocious  falsehood  and  an  atro- 
cious calumny  against  the  Senate,  desecrated  the  pulpit, 
and  prostituted  the  sacred  desk  to  the  miserable  and  cor- 
rupting influence  of  party  politics."  "I  doubt,"  he 
said,  again,  '  *  whether  there  is  a  body  of  men  in  America 
who  combine  so  much  profound  ignorance  on  the  ques- 
tion upon  which  they  attempt  to  enlighten  the  Senate 
as  this  same  body  of  preachers."85  The  Nashville  and 
Louisville  Christian  Advocate,  the  chief  journal  of  the 
Church  South,  criticises  the  editor  of  the  Christian  Ad- 
vocate and  Journal  for  his  editorials  on  the  subject,  and 
states:  "We  most  sincerely  wish  that  he  and  all  the  re- 
ligious editors  in  this  land  would  attend  to  their  ap- 
propriate work,  and  leave  great  National  questions  and 
State  politics  to  the  people  as  citizens.  .  .  .  Better 
preach  repentance  and  faith  and  holiness  than  to  med- 
dle with  the  organizations  of  States  and  Territories."80 
While  the  editor  of  another  journal  of  the  Methodist 
Church  South  urges  the  "Southern  Methodist  preach- 
ers, as  such,"  to  "stick  to  their  work  of  great  moral 
reform  and  allow  the  people  who  are  competent  to  at- 
tend to  the  affairs  of  the  Nation  and  the  State."87 

The  status  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  the 
opening  of  the  war  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 
(1)  It  had  become  by  this  time  practically  unanimous 
in  its  opposition  to  slavery;  the  only  exception  was 
along  the  border,  where  a  few  slave-holders  were  still 
identified  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
great  contest  over  the  question  of  slavery  was  practically 
settled  in  the  Methodist  Church  before  the  final  struggle 
in  the  Nation  began.  (2)  The  great  majority  of  the 
83  Wilson,  vol.  ii,  p.  393. 

86  Nashville  and  Louisville  Christian  Advocate,  quoted  in  Chris- 
tian Adv.,  April  6,  1854. 

87  Eolston  Christian  Advocate,  quoted  in  Christian  Advocate  as 
above. 


45 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


membership  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  in 
the  Free  States,  and  a  very  large  majority  of  them 
were  ready  to  identify  themselves  with  any  political 
movement  which  might  rid  the  Nation  of  the  institution 
of  slavery,  which  they  regarded  as  a  sin,  and  which 
they  had  almost  completely  driven  from  the  Church. 
(3)  The  membership  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
at  the  opening  of  the  Avar,  by  States,  was  as  follows:88 

**  Methodist  Almanac,  1862,  p.  24.  These  returns  were  taken 
from  the  Minutes  of  the  Conferences  for  1861  and  1862.  This  is 
the  only  place  where  I  found  the  membership  given  by  States. 


Maine    24,267 

New  Hampshire    11,757 

Vermont    15,442 

Massachusetts    30,737 

Connecticut    18,849 

Rhode  Island   3,067 

New  York   164,146 

Pennsylvania    107,368 

Delaware   10,838 

Maryland    56,220 

District  of  Columbia   3,956 

Virginia    41,872 

Ohio    138,650 

Kentucky    3,405 

Indiana  *   92,884 

Illinois    91,811 

Michigan    33,137 

Wisconsin    23,570 

Minnesota    5,895 

Iowa    39,646 

Missouri    7,738 

Kansas    4,357 

Nebraska    1,542 

Colorado    391 

California    4,252 

Oregon    2,619 

Washington    242 


Total    984,933 


46 


CHAPTER  II. 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the 
Border. 

In  this  chapter  we  will  discuss  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  its  relation  to  the  Civil  War  in  those 
States  commonly  known  in  war  times  as  the  Border 
States;  namely,  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
and  Missouri.  In  1861  there  were  six  Conferences  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  wholly  or  partly  within 
these  States:  the  Baltimore,  East  Baltimore,  Philadel- 
phia, Western  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  with  a 
total  membership  of  149,840.1 

The  "New  Rule"  on  slavery,  passed  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1860,  meeting  at  Buffalo,  which  declared 
"the  buying,  selling  or  holding  of  human  beings  as 
chattels"  to  be  "contrary  to  the  laws  of  God,"  and  call- 
ing upon  the  preachers  and  people  to  keep  themselves 
pure  from  this  great  evil,"  had  aroused  considerable 
opposition  in  the  Border  Conferences,  especially  in 
Maryland.2  So  strong  was  this  opposition  in  the  Balti- 
more Conference  that  in  its  session  in  1861  resolutions 
were  drawn  up  declaring  the  Baltimore  Conference 
"separate  and  independent"  of  the  General  Conference, 
and  stating  that  they  would  not  reunite  with  the  rest  of 

1  Membership  of  Border  Conferences  from  the  General  Minutes, 


1861,  pp.  11,  17,  21,  24,  26. 

Philadelphia  (in  slave  territory)   35,293 

Baltimore    43,581 

East  Baltimore  .  39,519 

Western  Virginia   21,792 

Kentucky    3,405 

Missouri  and  Arkansas   6,245 

2  McPherson,  pp.  494,  495. 

47 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


the  Church  until  (1)  the  New  Rule  had  been  abrogated, 

(2)  the  subject  of  slavery  had  been  transferred  to  the 
exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  Annual  Conferences,  and 

(3)  a  fair  proportion  of  periodicals  had  been  placed  un- 
der the  charge  and  direction  of  the  slave-holding  Con- 
ferences. Bishop  Scott,  the  presiding  officer,  had  re- 
fused to  put  the  question  on  the  adoption  of  the  reso- 
lutions, declaring  such  action  "a  violation  of  the  order 
and  discipline"  of  the  Church,  but  a  majority  of  the 
Conference  were  in  favor  of  such  action.3 

The  East  Baltimore  Conference  at  its  session  in  1861 
adopted  resolutions  calling  for  the  repeal  of  the  new 
chapter,  declaring  that  there  could  be  no  administration 
under  it,  and  asking  the  concurrence  of  all  the  Annual 
Conferences  in  a  proposition  which  should  give  each 
Conference  full  power  over  slavery  within  its  bounds. 
The  only  Conference  to  concur  in  this  action  was  the 
Philadelphia,  which  did  so  by  a  vote  of  174  to  35. 4 
The  Western  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Conferences, 
though  not  concurring  with  the  action  of  the  General 
Conference  of  1860  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  were  not 
inclined  to  reopen  the  question.5 

The  Missouri  Conference  in  a  series  of  resolutions 
also  refused  to  concur  in  the  resolutions  sent  from  the 
East  Baltimore  Conference,  stating  that  while  they 
deeply  sympathized  with  the  other  Border  Conferences 
on  the  question  of  slavery,  yet  they  were  unwilling 
to  renew  the  controversy;  and  as  the  "New  Chapter" 
was  only  declarative  and  advisory,  they  had  no  griev- 
ances to  be  redressed.6 

The  sessions  of  the  Border  Conferences  in  1861  were 
all  held  in  March,  just  after  the  inauguration  of  Presi- 

3  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1862,  pp.  580,  581;  also  MePherson, 
p.  496. 

4Matlack,  pp.  321,  322. 

5  MePherson,  p.  496.  For  Western  Virginia's  resolutions,  La- 
dies' depository,  May,  1861,  p.  320. 

6  MePherson,  p.  496. 

48 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


dent  Lincoln,  and  all  of  them  except  the  Baltimore 
passed  resolutions  expressive  of  loyalty  to  the  National 
Government  and  the  new  administration.  This  was  sig- 
nificant, as  it  was  still  undecided  whether  or  not  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri  would  pass  se- 
cession ordinances. 

Maryland  was  fortunate  in  having  an  executive  in 
Governor  Hicks — who,  by  the  way,  was  a  communicant 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — who  was  thoroughly 
loyal  to  the  Union,  and  it  was  largely  through  his  efforts 
in  refusing  to  call  a  special  session  of  the  Legislature 
that  Maryland  was  saved  to  the  Union.  After  the  ex- 
citement which  followed  the  fall  of  Ft.  Sumter  and 
the  attack  on  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  in  the  streets  of 
Baltimore,  Union  sentiment  in  Maryland  rapidly  in- 
creased, and  by  the  middle  of  May,  Maryland  was 
strongly  on  the  side  of  the  Union.7 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  Baltimore  Confer- 
ence contained  a  large  number  of  disloyal  members, 
most  of  whom  came  from  Northern  Virginia,  but  during 
the  year  practically  all  of  this  element  withdrew  and 
joined  the  Church  South.  At  the  session  of  that  Con- 
ference in  1862  sixty-six  ministers  were  reported  as 
withdrawn,  and  the  membership,  which  was  43,581  in 
1861,  was  given  as  18,679  in  1862.8  Later  several  other 
ministers,  sympathizing  with  their  Virginia  brethren, 
withdrew  from  the  Conference  and  organized  three  in- 
dependent Methodist  Churches  in  Baltimore.  These  con- 
gregations were  afterwards  suspected  of  disloyalty;  one 
of  the  ministers,  a  Rev.  Mr.  Dashiell,  having  removed  a 
United  States  flag  from  a  school  which  he  conducted, 
causing  considerable  agitation  and  resulting  in  military 
interference.9  After  the  withdrawal  of  these  pro-slavery 
members  the  Baltimore  Conference  was  overwhelmingly 

7  Ehodes,  vol.  iii,  pp.  388-390.    McPherson,  pp.  8-10. 

8  Minutes  of  Annual  Conferences,  1862,  p.  10. 

9  For  full  account  of  the  Church  trouble  in  Baltimore  see  Mc- 
Pherson, pp.  524-532. 

49 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


loyal.  At  its  session  in  1862  resolutions  were  adopted 
expressing  abhorrence  of  the  rebellion  and  approving 
and  indorsing  ' 1  the  present  and  patriotic  administration 
of  the  Federal  Government."  The  third  resolve  is  of 
special  interest,  stating,  "That  in  our  patriotic  efforts 
in  the  past  or  present  to  sustain  the  Government  .  .  . 
we  are  not  justly  liable  to  the  charge  of  political  teach- 
ing, and  in  the  inculcation  of  loyal  principles  and  senti- 
ments we  recognize  the  pulpit  and  the  press  as  legiti- 
mate instrumentalities."10  A  number  of  the  ministers 
of  the  Baltimore  Conference,  while  loyal  to  the  Union, 
were  opposed  to  abolition,  especially  in  the  early  years 
of  the  war.  A  Rev.  Mr.  Bull,  an  ex-chaplain  in  the 
Union  army,  stated  on  the  floor  of  the  Conference  at 
its  session  in  the  spring  of  1863  that  he  hated  abolition- 
ism as  he  hated  hell,  and  considered  it  the  worst  heresy 
out  of  hell.11  Concerning  the  session  of  1863,  a  certain 
member  of  the  Conference  stated  that  fully  two-thirds 
and  perhaps  more  of  the  members  were  thoroughly  loyal 
to  the  Union.12 

At  the  session  of  the  Conference  in  the  spring  of 
1864  strong  and  loyal  resolutions  were  adopted.  The 
second  resolve  stated  "that  we  will  not  receive  into  the 
Conference  or  elect  to  ministerial  orders  .  .  .  any  man 
of  known  disloyalty."13  By  this  time  also  there  was 
evidence  that  the  hostile  attitude  of  some  of  the  mem- 
bers toward  abolition  was  changing,  for  the  third  resolve 
stated  "that  the  time  is  coming  when  the  Baltimore 
Conference  will  no  longer  be  embarrassed  in  maintain- 
ing that  well-known  principle  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  upon  this  subject  (slavery)." 

The  East  Baltimore  Conference  lost  practically  no 
members  by  withdrawal,  on  account  of  disloyalty  or 
pro-slavery  sentiment,  and  the  resolutions  on  the  state 

10  Christian  Advocate,  March  13,  1862. 

11  Ibid,  April  16,  1863.  12  Ibid,  April  30,  1863. 
13  Ibid,  March  17,  1864. 

50 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


of  the  country  passed  by  this  Conference  at  its  various 
sessions  during  the  war  are  invariably  loyal.14 

The  whole  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Maryland 
was  generally  considered  most  loyal.  A  correspondent 
of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  writing  from  Baltimore, 
says:  "The  principal  secessionists  of  the  city  are  the 
lawyers,  the  aristocracy,  and  a  majority  of  the  plug- 
uglies.  The  Methodists  and  the  mechanics  are  almost 
to  a  man  for  the  Union.  Considering  the  fact  that  the 
Methodists  have  over  forty  Churches,  and  that  they 
outnumber  nearly  all  the  other  Protestant  Churches  com- 
bined, the  fact  is  a  significant  one."15 

One  of  the  Maryland  Methodist  preachers,  writing  to 
one  of  the  Church  papers  from  within  the  State,  says, 
"My  lot  is  cast  among  people  who  believe  that  a  firm  and 
loyal  adherence  to  our  country  in  these  times  of  trouble 
is  obedience  to  God."  Another  writer  states  that,  "as 
a  whole,  the  Methodist  Church  of  Baltimore  is  eminently 
loyal.  Its  ministers,  with  a  few  exceptions,  both  in 
the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  throw  the  whole  weight  of 
their  influence  in  favor  of  the  Government."16  Still 
another  enthusiastic  writer  goes  so  far  as  to  claim  that 
Maryland  owes  her  safety  to  Methodism  more  than  to 
any  other  element.  To  prove  this  statement,  he  declares 
that  Methodism,  being  the  most  numerous  denomination 
in  the  State,  may  almost  be  said  to  be  the  ruling  element 
in  the  State,  and  that  Maryland  Methodism  has  been 
thoroughly  loyal  and  anti-slavery.  As  additional  proof 
he  cites  the  fact  that  Governor  Hicks,  whose  heroic 
firmness  has  given  him  a  National  reputation,  is  a  Meth- 
odist, and  also  that  the  city  of  Baltimore  elected  a  Meth- 
odist council,  and  the  council,  in  reorganizing  the  police 
force,  put  two  Methodists  at  its  head.17 

u  Western,  March  12,  1862;  ibid,  March  25,  1863;  Christian 
Advocate,  March  17,  1864. 

15  The  Cincinnati  Commercial  quoted  in  Christian  Advocate. 
18  Christian  Advocate,  Jan.  2,  1862. 
"Ibid,  Aug.,  1864. 

51 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


As  has  already  been  stated,  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference at  its  session  in  March,  1861,  passed  resolutions 
concurring  with  the  action  of  the  East  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, in  calling  for  the  repeal  of  the  ' '  New  Chapter ' ' 
on  slavery,  but  at  every  subsequent  session  during  the 
war  such  action  was  taken  as  to  render  the  loyalty  of 
that  body  unmistakable.  At  its  next  session  (1862), 
held  in  Philadelphia,  just  previous  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  proceedings,  a  large  flag  with  the  motto 
"God  and  our  Country"  inscribed  upon  it  was  un- 
furled, while  the  members  cheered.18  At  this  session 
also  a  long  series  of  patriotic  resolutions  were  passed, 
declaring  the  rebellion  treason,  and  stating  that  the  army 
and  navy  have  their  deepest  sympathy  and  prayers,  and 
pledging  themselves  to  use  their  influence  to  encourage 
and  assist  them  in  saving  the  Union.19  At  this  session 
also  the  Conference  directed  that  the  candidates  for  ad- 
mission into  the  Conference  be  required  to  answer  the 
question,  "Are  you  in  favor  of  sustaining  the  Union, 
the  Government,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  against  the  present  Rebellion?"20  And  every 
member  of  the  Conference  was  required  to  vote  on  the 
resolutions  affirming  loyalty,  and  even  those  absent  when 
the  vote  was  taken  were  required  to  record  their  vote 
some  time  during  the  session.21 

In  a  series  of  resolutions  adopted  at  the  session  of 
1864  occurs  this  interesting  one:  "Resolved,  That,  for- 
bearing as  we  desire  to  be  toward  all  ministers  who  have 
fallen  in  the  error  either  of  pro-slaveryism  or  disloyalty, 
we  record  it  as  our  solemn  judgment  that  no  such  man 
ought  to  be  a  religious  teacher  in  our  Church,  and  if 
there  be  any  such,  we  do  hereby  request  him  to  withdraw 
from  among  us."22  This  resolution  was  adopted,  with 
only  three  dissenting  votes.    At  this  same  session  an- 

18  Ibid,  March  27,  1862. 

19  Minutes  Philadelphia  Conference,  1862,  pp.  45,  46. 

20  Ibid,  p.  7.  21  Ibid,  p.  6,  8.  22  Ibid,  1864,  p.  8. 

52 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


other  series  of  patriotic  resolutions  were  adopted,  con- 
taining eight  long  resolves  which  leave  no  doubt  as  to 
the  loyalty  of  the  preachers  of  the  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ence. Also  at  the  session  of  1864  the  resolution  con- 
curring in  the  protest  of  the  East  Baltimore  Conference 
on  the  "new  chapter"  passed  in  1861  was  repealed. 

Among  the  resolutions  adopted  at  the  session  in 
March,  1865,  just  a  few  days  before  the  surrender  of 
Appomattox,  is  one  indorsing  the  Thirteenth  Amend- 
ment, and  another  congratulating  Maryland  on  the  adop- 
tion of  her  new  constitution  and  in  the  concurrence  of 
her  Legislature  in  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  showing 
that  the  border  Methodists  had  changed  ground  com- 
pletely on  the  slavery  question  and  by  the  close  of  the 
war  welcomed  emancipation.23 

We  turn  now  to  a  consideration  of  the  situation  in 
the  States  of  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri. 
The  condition  of  Methodism  in  these  Border  States  was 
somewhat  different  than  in  Maryland,  in  that  the  Meth- 
odist Church  South  was  also  occupying  the  Territory, 
and  in  two  of  the  States,  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  were 
very  much  stronger  in  membership  than  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  On  the  other  hand  the  Church  South 
reported  no  members  in  Maryland  in  1861  whatever. 

In  1861  the  white  membership  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  in  these  three  Border  States  was  as 
follows:  Western  Virginia,  10,898;  Kentucky,  41,043, 
and  Missouri,  40,593  ;24  while  the  membership  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  these  same  States  in  the 
same  year  was:  Western  Virginia,  21,792;  Kentucky, 
3,405,  and  Missouri,  6,245. 25  This  situation  naturally 
led  to  a  very  complicated  state  of  affairs  in  these  three 
States. 

The  people  of  Western  Virginia  had  very  little  sym- 

23  Ibid,  1865,  pp.  49,  50. 

24  Methodist  Almanac,  1861,  p.  26. 

25  General  Minutes,  1861,  pp.  17,  21,  24. 

53 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


pathy  with  the  people  of  the  eastern  section  of  the  State, 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they  owned  few  slaves  and 
their  occupations  and  characters  were  different.  The 
controversy  between  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia  did 
not  originate  with  the  war  and  did  not  grow  out  of 
the  question  of  loyalty  or  disloyalty,  but  was  of  much 
longer  standing  and  grew  out  of  social,  industrial,  and 
climatic  differences.  The  people  of  the  western  section 
of  the  State  had  long  felt  that  they  had  little  part  in 
the  affairs  of  Virginia,  for  the  western  counties  had 
never  held  a  senatorship  or  a  governorship.26  When 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  divided,  in  1844,  over 
slavery,  naturally  the  larger  proportion  of  the  Metho- 
dists in  Western  Virginia  remained  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  when  the  agitation  over  secession 
began,  practically  all  of  them  were  in  favor  of  remain- 
ing in  the  Union.  When  Governor  Letcher  called  a 
State  convention  to  consider  secession  there  were  mass- 
meetings  held  in  the  western  counties  against  it,  and 
in  the  convention  twenty-nine  Western  Virginia  repre- 
sentatives voted  against  secession,  and  only  seven  for  it. 

The  attempt  to  carry  out  the  Ordinance  of  Secession 
in  Western  Virginia  met  with  resistance,  and  a  move- 
ment was  set  on  foot  early  in  1861  to  form  a  govern- 
ment for  the  western  counties.  A  formal  convention  of 
delegates  from  forty  western  counties  met  June  11,  1861, 
at  Wheeling.  Each  delegate  took  an  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  a  declaration 
of  independence  was  signed  by  all  the  delegates.  In 
July,  1862,  Congress  passed  a  bill  admitting  the  State 
of  West  Virginia  into  the  Union,  and  on  April  20,  1863, 
it  was  formally  declared  a  part  of  the  Union  by  the 
President's  proclamation.27 

Since  1856  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  West- 

20  Congressional  Globe,  37th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  Part  iii,  pp.  2415- 
2419.  The  best  narrative  of  the  formation  of  West  Virginia  is  the 
speech  of  Senator  Willey,  delivered  May  29th,  found  in  the  above. 

"MePherson,  pp.  377,  378. 

54 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


era  Virginia  had  championed  the  cause  of  the  Union, 
and  her  ministers  had  boldly  preached  against  the  dis- 
Unionists.  "Tell  them"  (the  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church  South),  said  one  preacher,  "that  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  shall  exist  on  slave  territory  to  the 
end  of  time,  and  that,  as  a  heaven-appointed  instrumen- 
tality, ...  we  shall  aid  in  preserving  the  integrity  of 
the  Union."28  While  another  writer  says,  in  1861,  "If 
Western  Virginia  is  saved,  she  will  owe  her  salvation 
more  to  Methodism,  under  God,  than  to  any  other 
agency."29  Many  of  the  Methodists  in  Western  Vir- 
ginia in  1861  had  refused  to  take  the  Baltimore  Chris- 
tian Advocate  because  it  was  tolerant  on  secession  and 
slavery.  One  preacher  writes  that  his  people  on  his 
circuit  have  refused  to  take  the  paper,  and  that  he  has 
discontinued  it  himself.30  Another  correspondent  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Christian  Advocate  in  1862  states  that 
all  the  ministers  of  the  Western  Virginia  Conference 
are  loyal,  and  that  only  about  one-twentieth  of  the  mem- 
bership show  any  disloyalty  whatever,  and  he  states, 
"Our  Church  has  better  prospects  in  Western  Virginia 
than  ever  before."31 

It  is  claimed  by  many  old  residents  of  Northern  West 
Virginia  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  dismem- 
bered Virginia.  The  entire  accuracy  of  this  statement 
may  be  questioned,  but  it  is  significant  that  the  Union 
and  the  Southern  "strength  of  Western  Virginia  in  1861 
could  have  been  measured  and  located  by  determining 
the  membership  and  location  of  the  various  Churches 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  respectively."32 

28 '  'Defence  of  the  M.  E.  Church,"  pamphlet,  by  Rev.  Wesley- 
Smith,  cited  in  ' '  Cleavage  between  Eastern  and  Western  Vir- 
ginia," Ambler,  Am.  Hist.  Bev.,  July,  1910,  p.  770. 

29 ' '  Southwestern  Methodism,"  Elliott,  p.  265. 

30  The  Methodist,  Jan.  12,  1861. 

81  Western  Christian  Advocate,  July  20,  1862. 

32 ' 1  Cleavage  between  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia, 1 '  Ambler, 
Am.  Hist.  Bev.,  July,  1910,  p.  771. 

55 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


We  will  now  consider  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
Kentucky.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  the  Church  South 
far  outnumbered  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Kentucky,  and  the  feeling  in  favor  of  secession  was 
strong:  but  early  in  1861  the  governor  and  the  Legis- 
lature determined  on  a  neutral  course.83  During  the 
course  of  the  struggle,  however,  neutrality  was  found 
to  be  impossible,  and  Kentucky  chose  the  Union  side ;  and 
in  June  nine  anti-secession  congressmen  out  of  ten  were 
elected,  the  Union  majority  in  the  State  being  54,700; 
and  in  August  a  strong  Union  Legislature  was  chosen.34 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  so  weak  in 
Kentucky — numbering  less  than  four  thousand — that  its 
influence  was  not  so  strongly  felt  as  elsewhere,  though 
wherever  it  was  established  it  was  identified  with  loyalty 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  A  chaplain 
writing  from  Kentucky  in  1862  says:  "The  destiny  of 
our  Church  is  blended  in  a  significant  manner  with  the 
destiny  of  the  arms  of  the  Union.  .  .  .  Wherever  our 
arms  subdue  the  rebellion,  there  our  Church  may  raise 
her  noble  standard  with  every  assurance  of  success."35 
To  give  an  example  of  the  fanatical  loyalty  of  some 
of  the  ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Kentucky,  I  quote  the  following,  as  reported  in  one 
of  the  Southern  Church  papers:  "To  give  you  the  ani- 
mus of  the  Northern  Methodist  Church  in  Kentucky, 
allow  me  to  tell  .  .  .  about  one  Rev.  Mr.  Black,  sta- 
tioned at  Newport,  opposite  Cincinnati.  On  one  Sab- 
bath he  had  his  church  ornamented  with  United  States 
flags  and  brass  eagles;  his  hymns  were  the  'Star-Span- 
gled Banner,'  the  'Red,  White,  and  Blue,'  and  'Hail 
Columbia.'  He  prayed  that  the  Union  may  be  pre- 
served, 'even  though  blood  may  come  out  of  the  wine- 
press, even  unto  the  horses'  bridles,  by  the  space  of  a 
thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs.'    In  the  course  of 

^McPherson,  p.  8.  ^Rhodes,  vol.  iii,  p.  392. 

35  Western,  Feb.  19,  1862. 

56 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


his  sermon  he  said:  'I  trust  our  troops  will  rally  and 
wipe  out  the  disgrace  of  Manassas,  though  it  cost  the 
life  of  every  rebel  under  arms.  Let  Davis  and  Beaure- 
gard be  captured,  to  meet  the  fate  of  Haman.  Hang 
them  up  on  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line,  that  traitors  of 
both  sections  may  be  warned.  Let  them  hang  until  vul- 
tures shall  eat  their  rotten  flesh  from  their  bones;  let 
them  hang  until  the  crows  shall  build  their  filthy  nests 
in  their  skeletons;  let  them  hang  until  the  rope  rots, 
and  let  their  dismembered  bones  fall  so  deep  into  the 
earth  that  God  Almighty  can't  find  them  in  the  day 
of  resurrection.'  "3G 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  Kentucky 
contained  large  numbers  of  strong  Union  men;  in  fact, 
loyal  sentiment  was  strongest  in  the  Church  South  in 
Kentucky  than  in  any  other  place.  In  1862  thirty-six 
preachers  from  the  Louisville  Conference  (Church 
South)  were  determined  to  adhere  to  the  Union,  and 
many  of  them  intimated  that  if  the  States  separated 
they  would  return  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.37 
A  majority  of  the  Kentucky  Conference  of  the  Southern 
Church  were  also  strong  Union  men,  and  in  1862  a 
number  of  the  ministers  in  that  Conference  refused  to 
take  charges  within  the  rebel  lines.  At  the  session  of 
the  Conference  in  1864,  resolutions  were  passed  declar- 
ing the  Conference  practically  independent  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  that  the  Conference 
was  and  ever  had  been  loyal  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  And  in  the  spring  of  1865  eighteen  of 
the  ministers  of  this  Conference  withdrew,  and  joined 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.38 

36  "Moore's  Rebellion  Record,"  vol.  iv,  p.  22  (P). 

37  Annual  Cyclopedia,  1863. 

M  I  have  drawn  this  information  from  the  MSS.  Journal  of  Rev. 
Daniel  Stevenson,  who  was  a  member  and  secretary  of  the  Ken- 
tucky Conference  (Church  South),  and  was  one  of  the  eighteen  to 
withdraw  from  the  Church  South  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
also  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  Kentucky 
from  1863-1867.  The  Journal  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  son, 
Prof.  R.  T.  Stevenson,  Delaware,  Ohio. 

57 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


The  situation  in  Missouri  during  the  war  is  difficult 
to  describe.  Nowhere  were  the  Churches  more  bitterly 
opposed  to  one  another,  and  nowhere  were  greater 
cruelties  and  barbarities  practiced  in  the  name  of  the 
Church  than  in  Missouri.  The  membership  of  the 
Church  South  far  outnumbered  that  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  State,  and  most  of  the  minis- 
ters and  leading  men  of  the  Southern  Church  favored 
secession. 

The  secession  party  in  Missouri  was  led  by  Governor 
Jackson,  while  the  Union  party  found  a  leader  in  Fran- 
cis P.  Blair,  Jr.  Regiments  were  organized  on  both 
sides,  the  secessionists  under  the  name  ' '  Minutemen, " 
the  Unionists  were  called  "Wide-awakes."  On  May  10, 
1861,  Camp  Jackson,  near  St.  Louis,  was  taken  by  the 
Union  regiments,  and  Union  sentiment  increased  rapidly 
in  the  State  from  that  time.  While  this  contest  was 
going  on,  the  strife  between  the  Churches,  North  and 
South,  became  even  more  bitter  and  cruel,  if  possible, 
than  it  had  been  formerly.  Outside  of  St.  Louis  the 
religious  services  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
throughout  Missouri  was  suspended,  and  most  of  the 
preachers  were  compelled  to  leave  the  State.  The  min- 
ister at  Jefferson  City  was  compelled  to  flee  to  St.  Louis 
for  safety,  the  minister  on  the  Jackson  Circuit  was 
driven  away,  leaving  his  family  there  alone  for  several 
months,  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Baker  was  compelled  to  leave 
the  Frederickstown  Circuit.  The  presiding  elder  of  the 
Jefferson  City  District,  the  Rev.  N.  Shumate,  was  pur- 
sued and  often  waylaid.  On  one  occasion,  while  hold- 
ing a  Quarterly  Conference  at  Leasburg,  where  the 
preacher  had  already  been  driven  away,  he  was  threat- 
ened by  a  mob ;  but  he  and  his  congregation  armed 
themselves,  placed  pickets  around  the  house  where  the 
service  was  held,  and  proceeded  with  the  service  by 
singing, 

58 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


'  *  Though  troubles  assail 
And  dangers  affright, 
Though  friends  should  all  fail 
And  foes  all  unite ' ' — 

and  after  this  the  presiding  elder  went  around  on  his 
preaching  tours  carrying  two  revolvers.39 

The  condition  of  affairs  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Missouri  began  to  improve  with  the  driving 
out  of  the  rebel  forces  under  General  Price,  but  with 
the  Union  occupation  of  Missouri,  persecution  was  be- 
gun against  the  Methodist  Church  South.  The  blame 
for  this  persecution  was  laid  largely  upon  the  "North- 
ern ' '  Methodists,40  who  were  charged  with  the  desire  ' '  of 
wreaking  a  mean  vengeance"  upon  the  Southern  Church. 
The  Central  Christian  Advocate,  with  its  editor,  Dr. 
Charles  Elliott,  was  also  accused  of  seizing  ' '  every  event 
that  could  be  tortured  into  an  occasion  for  an  inflamma- 
tory article  against  the  ministers  and  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South."41 

After  it  became  evident  that  Missouri  would  remain 
in  the  Union,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 
adopted  a  neutral  position.  Their  Church  organ  in 
Missouri,  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  edited  by 
Dr.  McAnally,  advised  their  people  "to  remain  at  home, 
cultivate  their  lands,  and  pursue  their  avocations  of 
peace  and  piety,  in  the  fear  of  God."42  The  Church 
claimed  to  be  unsectional,  unpolitical,  and  loyal  to  the 
Constitution  and  Government,  but  that  many  of  the 
members  were  driven  by  persecution  to  join  the  Con- 
federates.43   But  in  spite  of  their  assertion  of  loyalty 

39  These  facts  have  been  drawn  from  ' '  Southwestern  Metho- 
dism," by  Elliott.  Dr.  Elliott  was  editor  of  the  Central  Christian 
Advocate,  St.  Louis,  during  the  war  and  had  first-hand  knowledge 
of  many  of  these  occurrences. 

40 ' '  Martyrdom  in  Missouri, ' '  Lef twich,  vol.  i,  p.  141. 

41  Ibid. 

42 11  History  of  Methodism  in  Missouri/'  Lewis,  p.  26  and  fol- 
lowing. 

"Ibid,  p.  22. 

59 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


the  Methodist  Church,  South  in  Missouri  had  difficulty 
in  persuading  the  authorities  to  believe  it,  and  it  is  true 
that  every  opportunity  was  seized  by  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  to  increase  these  suspicions.  The 
long  story  of  persecution  of  the  Church  South  in  Mis- 
souri has  been  collected  by  an  ardent  partisan  of  that 
Church  into  two  good-sized  volumes  called  "Martyrdom 
in  Missouri,"  and  the  length  of  the  story  will  give  an 
idea  of  the  extent  of  the  persecution.44 

On  the  other  hand  the  ministers  and  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  took  pains  to  make 
their  loyalty  as  conspicuous  as  possible. 

At  the  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference  of  1862, 
held  in  St.  Louis,  the  members  unanimously  resolved,  on 
the  first  day  of  the  session,  to  testify  their  loyalty  to 
the  Union  by  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  a  body, 
and  the  provost  marshal,  General  Farrar,  was  invited 
to  perform  that  duty.  After  taking  the  oath,  a  num- 
ber of  patriotic  addresses  were  made,  including  one  by 
the  provost  marshal.  A  prominent  member  of  the  Con- 
ference in  his  address  stated  that  no  credit  was  due 
them  for  loyalty,  for  a  disloyal  Methodist  minister  was 
a  heretic  by  his  own  book.  Formerly,  said  he,  "heretics 
were  burned,  but  he  would  suggest  that  now  they  be 
onry  hanged."45 

The  editor  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate  was 
presented  with  fifty  dollars  by  the  Southern  Illinois 
Conference  for  the  purpose  of  buying  a  flag  to  display 
over  his  editorial  room.  This  flag  was  made  by  five 
"Union,  Christian,  Methodist"  ladies  of  St.  Louis, 
among  them  being  the  wife  of  General  C.  B.  Fisk.  On 
the  flag  were  the  mottoes  "E  PI u  rib  us  Union"  at  the 
top,  and  on  each  side  respectively  were  "God  and  Lib- 
erty" and  "Sustain  the  Union,"  and  at  the  bottom 

44 ' '  Martyrdom  in  Missouri,"  by  Rev.  W.  M.  Leftwich,  D.  D., 
St.  Louis,  1870,  2  vols. 

45  Christian  Advocate,  March  13,  1862. 

60 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border. 


was,  4 'The  Central  Christian  Advocate  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  of  1784."  This  flag  was  carried 
around  the  country  by  the  editor  to  a  number  of  Con- 
ferences, and  was  displayed  at  the  General  Conference 
of  1864,  in  Philadelphia.46 

There  were  a  number  of  instances  in  Missouri  where 
ministers  and  members  of  the  Church  South  changed 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  solely  on  the  ground 
of  loyalty  to  the  Government.  A  convention  of  Union 
members  of  the  Church  South  was  held  August  6,  1863, 
which  adopted  an  address  to  the  Missouri  Conference 
of  that  Church,  announcing  their  intention  to  remain 
in  the  Church  South  only  if  that  Church  would  be  loyal 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.47  In  1863 
practically  the  whole  congregation  of  a  Southern  Metho- 
dist Church  in  Louisiana,  Mo.,  came  over  to  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,48  and  from  various  places  in  the 
State  Union  men  in  the  Church  South  applied  to  the 
authorities  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  send 
them  loyal  preachers.49 

One  minister,  writing  from  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  says 
that  he  is  occupying  the  edifice  of  the  Methodist  Church 
South  at  the  request  of  the  Union  members  of  that 
Church.50  Another  minister  from  St.  Louis  writes  that 
in  one  Methodist  Church  (North)  of  that  city  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-nine  new  members  had  been  gathered 
within  four  weeks,  and  that  more  than  half  of  them 
had  come  from  the  Church  South.  He  also  states  that 
at  a  certain  service  in  this  church  the  President's  proc- 
lamation was  read  and  prayers  offered  for  the  Union.51 
Still  another  minister,  writing  from  Lebanon,  states 

48  For  the  complete  story  of  this  flag,  told  by  its  owner,  see 
"Southwestern  Methodism, ' 9  Elliott,  p.  311-313. 
"Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1862. 
48  Ibid,  1863,  p.  629. 

49 ' '  Southwestern  Methodism, ' '  pp.  412,  413. 

50  Christian  Advocate,  April  10,  1863. 

51  Ibid,  April  24,  1862.  This  was  the  Union  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

61 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 

that  there  are  more  loyal  members  in  the  Church  South 
than  he  had  anticipated,  and  that  in  a  certain  country 
congregation  of  that  Church,  consisting  of  forty-eight 
members,  only  three  were  disloyal.52 

The  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  appropriated  $7,000  in  1863  for  the  extension 
of  the  Church  in  Missouri,  and  in  St.  Louis  an  organi- 
zation was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  Meth- 
odists to  come  to  the  State,53  and  during  the  war  the 
Church  made  considerable  increase  throughout  the  State, 
mostly  secessions  from  the  Methodist  Church  South.54 
At  the  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference  in  1864  it 
was  reported  that  four  Southern  Methodist  preachers 
had  joined  the  Conference  and  that  more  than  one 
thousand  loyal  members  of  the  Church  South  had  joined 
the  Church  during  the  year.55 

A  writer  in  one  of  the  Church  papers  in  1864  says, 
"We  think  we  are  justified  by  the  facts  in  claiming 
for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  all  along  the  bor- 
der the  credit  of  having  stood  faithfully  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  that  about  in  proportion  to  the  prevalence 
of  Methodism  (Northern)  in  most  localities  have  the 
people  been  loyal."  This  does  not  seem  to  be  an  ex- 
travagant claim,  and  that  the  people  represented  by 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  were  among  the  most 
loyal  along  the  border  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt, 
and  also  that  they  exercised  a  considerable  influence  in 
keeping  those  States  in  the  Union  is  a  fact  that  can  not 
be  safely  disputed.56 

91  Ibid,  January  1,  1863. 

53  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1863,  pp.  629,  630. 

54  Ibid,  1864,  p.  514.    General  Minutes,  1865,  p.  6. 

55  Christian  Advocate,  March  7,  1865. 

56  Ibid,  June  30,  1864. 


62 


CHAPTER  III. 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  New 
England  Atlantic  States. 

In  the  course  of  this  chapter  we  will  consider  the 
general  patriotic  activities  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  ten  States  embraced  in  the  New  England 
and  Atlantic  groups;  namely,  Maine,  New  Hampshire, 
Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware. 
The  number  of  Methodists  in  the  New  England  group 
in  1861  was  104,119,  and  in  the  Atlantic  group  328,627; 
the  total  number  in  the  two  groups  being  432,746.1 
Within  this  territory  there  were  twenty  Conferences 
and  2,759  preachers.2 

1  The  number  of  Methodists  in  the  New  England  and  Atlantic 
States  in  1861,  by  States,  was  as  follows: 
New  England  Group: 


Maine    24,267 

New  Hampshire   ,  11,757 

Vermont    15,442 

Massachusetts    30,737 

Connecticut    18,849 

Rhode  Island   3,067 


Total   104,119 

Atlantic  Group: 

New  York   164,146 

New  Jersey    46,275 

Pennsylvania    107,368 

Delaware    10,838 


Total    328,627 


2  The  Conferences  within  these  States  were  the  Black  River, 
Delaware,  East  Genesee,  East  Maine,  Erie,  Genesee,  Maine,  New- 
ark, New  England,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  New 
York  East,  Oneida,  Pittsburgh,  Philadelphia,  Providence,  Troy, 
Vermont,  and  Wyoming. 

63 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


The  Methodist  Church  in  the  New  England  States 
was  not  nearly  so  large,  proportionately,  as  in  other 
sections  of  the  North,  but,  though  comparatively  small, 
it  exercised  considerable  influence,  and  its  membership, 
almost  to  a  man,  was  loyal  to  the  Government  and  to 
the  administration. 

At  this  period  New  England  Methodism  had  a  num- 
ber of  preachers  of  great  eloquence,  who  made  it  a  prac- 
tice of  preaching  "political  sermons"  on  various  occa- 
sions. For  over  twenty-five  years  slavery  and  abolition 
had  been  common  pulpit  themes  in  New  England,  and 
with  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  political  sermons  be- 
came more  common,  and  practically  all  the  Methodist 
preachers  in  New  England  discoursed  upon  these  sub- 
jects. One  of  the  most  eloquent  and  brilliant  of  these 
preachers  was  Rev.  Gilbert  Haven,  D.  D.,  who  was  a 
bitter  enemy  of  slavery  and  an  intense  patriot.3  A  few 
days  after  the  election  of  1860  he  preached  a  sermon 
on  the  "Election  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"4  which,  when 
printed,  was  dedicated  "to  the  Honorable  Charles  Sum- 
ner," and  on  various  other  National  occasions  during 
the  war,  such  as  Thanksgiving,  New  Year's,  and  fast 
days,  he  preached  sermons  bearing  on  the  National  af- 
fairs. In  a  New  Year's  sermon  preached  in  Boston  in 
January,  1864,  he  reviewed  the  National  events  of  the 
year  1863  in  a  most  eloquent  and  effective  manner, 
which  must  have  had  telling  effect  when  delivered  with 
his  dramatic  method.5 

From  time  to  time  such  sermons  by  various  preach- 
ers appeared  in  Zion's  Herald,  the  Methodist  paper  of 
New  England.  Such  a  sermon  appeared  in  its  columns 
on  October  9,  1861,  from  the  text,  "Is  not  this  the  fast 
that  I  have  chosen,  to  loose  the  bonds  of  wickedness, 

3  Gilbert  Haven,  afterwards  elected  to  the  bishopric. 
4 ' '  National  Sermons, ' '  Haven.    This  sermon  w  as  preached  in 
the  Harvard  St.  Methodist  Church,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

5 ' 'National  Sermons,"  Haven.    "The  Wonderful  Year." 

64 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go 
free,  and  that  ye  break  every  yoke?"  (Isa.  58:6.)° 
An  outline  of  a  sermon  on  secession  appeared  in  Zion's 
Herald,  September  25,  1861,  which  I  reproduce  here  as 
a  clever  if  not  a  typical  example  of  such  discourses: 

Text:  1 'If  the  foot  shall  say,  because  I  am  not  the 
hand  I  am  not  of  the  body,  is  it  therefore  not  of  the 
body?"    (1  Cor.  12: 13.)7 

I.  The  Doctrine  of  Secession — I  am  not  of  the  body. 

(a)  The  Antiquity  of  this  Doctrine.  It  was  pro- 
claimed a  long  while  ago.  Lucifer  and  his  compeers 
(or  co-imps)  avowed  it.  Because  they  could  not  reign 
they  decided  to  secede  and  set  up  a  confederacy.  4 'Bet- 
ter reign  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven,"  said  the  presi- 
dent of  the  first  seceded  government. 

(b)  The  Promulgation  of  this  Doctrine.  Not  satis- 
fied with  seceding  themselves,  the  fallen  angels  began 
to  tamper  with  the  other  subjects  of  God's  government. 

(c)  The  Present  Phase  of  the  Doctrine.  The  same 
as  ever  ...  it  simply  seeks  to  overturn  government 
by  promulgating  the  old  doctrine,  "I  am  not  of  the 
body."  Therefore,  being  the  foot,  I  propose  to  walk 
off  and  take  care  of  myself,  and  allow  others  to  do  the 
same,  provided  they  allow  me  to  take  all  I  want. 

II.  The  Ground  on  which  the  Doctrine  is  put.  "  Be- 
cause I  am  not  the  hands."  If  the  foot  had  been 
the  hand,  that  is,  if  it  had  been  satisfied,  it  would 
not  have  advocated  the  doctrine,  therefore 

(a)  Dissatisfaction  justifies  secession.  .  .  . 

(b)  The  dissatisfaction  of  the  minority  justifies  se- 
cession. .  .  . 

(c)  Pride  enough  to  avow,  and  wickedness  enough 
to  defend  the  doctrine  of  secession  are  the  grounds  upon 
which  it  is  put. 

...  If  the  doctrine  of  secession  be  right  and  just, 
it  follows: 

1.  That  every  man  has  a  right  to  break  up  the  gov- 
ernment which  he  can  not  control. 

•Preached  by  Eev.  E.  S.  Stanley  on  "The  National  Fast  Day." 
''Zion's  Herald,  Sept.  25,  1861. 

5  65 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


2.  That  the  father  of  secession  (the  devil)  and  John 
Brown  and  Jeff  Davis  are  among  the  few  who  have  un- 
derstood the  true  principles  of  government,  and  ought 
to  be  canonized. 

It  was  a  common  sight  in  New  England,  during  the 
war,  to  see  a  United  States  flag  floating  from  the  tower 
of  a  church,  especially  in  the  towns  and  cities.  Such 
was  true  of  St.  Paul's  Methodist  Church,  in  Lowell, 
Mass.8  On  the  occasion  of  raising  a  new  flag  in  place 
of  one  damaged  by  a  storm,  the  pastor  of  the  Church, 
in  the  course  of  his  flag-raising  speech,  said:  ''Let  the 
National  ensign  float  along  our  line  of  battle,  over  the 
impregnable  fortress  at  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  .  .  . 
over  1  Honest  Abe, '  the  Nation 's  pride  and  glory, "... 
and  closed  his  speech  with  the  sentence,  "The  star- 
spangled  banner;  long  may  it  wave,  and  soon  may  it 
be  the  rebel's  dread,  as  it  now  is  the  patriot's  boast."9 
The  flag  was  also  usually  displayed  at  the  various  ses- 
sions of  the  Conferences,  and  on  one  occasion  the  East 
Maine  Conference  gave  a  reception  in  the  church  where 
the  session  was  being  held,  to  a  company  of  volunteers, 
at  which  time  the  flag  was  suspended  from  the  gallery.10 
The  New  England  Conferences  also  passed  patriotic 
resolutions  at  their  various  sessions.  The  resolutions  of 
the  New  England  Conference  for  1862  are  typical  of 
the  others.11  They  recognize  the  war  as  righteously 
visited  upon  the  Nation  for  its  sin  in  cherishing  slavery. 
They  recognize  that  God  has  given  us  a  President  who 
has  the  respect  and  the  confidence  of  the  people.  They 
hail  with  joy  the  bill  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia.  They  look  forward  to  the  annihilation 
of  this  foul  system,  and  express  the  hope  that  the  Gov- 
ernment will  not  compromise  with  this  great  foe  of 

8 Zion's  Herald,  Oct.  2,  1861. 

9  From  the  address  of  the  pastor,  Rev.  W.  R.  Clark. 
M  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  June  6,  1861. 
11  Minutes  of  the  New  England  Conference,  1862,  p.  24. 
66 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


God  and  humanity  in  order  to  end  the  war.  They  state 
that  they  are  bound  to  recognize  the  Constitution  as 
supreme,  and  uphold  the  flag.  They  behold  in  the  policy 
of  the  National  Government  and  in  the  victories  of  the 
Union  armies  the  triumph  of  the  principles  for  which 
they  have  long  labored.  They  promise  to  follow  the 
army  and  its  leaders  with  prayers  and  sympathy.  They 
extend  consolence  to  the  wounded.  They  express  pride 
in  their  Commonwealth  for  her  part  in  the  war.  They 
feel  bound  to  impress  upon  the  conscience  of  the  Nation 
more  vigorously  than  ever  before  that  slavery  is  a  sin 
and  must  be  subdued  to  gain  permanent  peace  and 
prosperity. 

The  war  was  a  frequent  topic  of  discussion  in  the 
Boston  Methodist  Preachers'  Meeting.  Such  questions 
as,  "Is  it  under  existing  circumstances  the  duty  of 
ministers  to  preach  on  the  subject  of  the  present  war?"12 
and  "Will  this  war  result  in  the  maintenance  of  our 
Constitutional  Government  as  it  now  is  over  the  whole 
country?"13  were  frequently  before  the  meeting,  some- 
times the  discussions  continuing  for  several  successive 
meetings.  In  these  discussions  the  famous  Father  Tay- 
lor took  frequent  part.  At  one  time  he  is  reported  to 
have  said,  "No  secessionist  should  be  allowed  to  sneeze 
north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  till  this  war  is  over, 
nor  for  fifty  years  after."14  At  another  time  he  is  re- 
ported in  the  Minutes  to  have  made  a  flaming  speech 
"for  war  and  the  extermination  of  slavery."15  It  was 
Father  Taylor,  also,  who  proposed  procuring  a  flag  and 
extending  it  from  the  building  where  this  body  held  its 
weekly  meetings.16 

The  resolutions  passed  by  the  Boston  Methodist 
Preachers'  Meeting  are  interesting,  showing  how  ex- 

12 Minutes  of  the  Boston  Methodist  Preachers'  Meeting,  April 
22,  1861. 

M  Ibid,  Dee.  16,  1861.  15  Ibid,  April  29,  1861. 

14  Ibid,  May  13,  1861.  18  Ibid,  June  3,  1861. 

67 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


tremely  radical  was  the  New  England  mind,  and  how 
intense  was  the  feeling  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  as- 
sassination.   The  substance  of  these  resolutions  follows: 

The  Constitution  defines  treason  and  affixes  its  pen- 
alty. No  rank  or  station,  civil  or  military,  should  shield 
from  justice  the  authors  and  leaders  of  the  rebellion 
.  .  .  Any  leniency  of  the  government  toward  such  is 
worse  than  wasted,  is  indeed  an  undeserved  and  griev- 
ous cruelty  to  the  insulted  sense  of  justice  in  the  minds 
of  the  brave  defenders  of  the  Union  and  in  the  heart  of 
the  whole  loyal  population.  Never  will  the  Nation  feel 
its  sense  of  honor  and  justice  vindicated  until  the  leaders 
of  this  unprovoked  and  wicked  rebellion  shall  have  suf- 
fered condign  punishment,  the  penalty  of  death;  there- 
fore, 

Resolved,  That  no  terms  should  be  made  with  trai- 
tors, no  compromise  with  rebels;  that  the  surrender  of 
rebels  should  be  unconditional,  they  should  be  forced  to 
surrender  and  should  be  held  to  the  strict  justice  their 
crimes  have  merited. 

That  we  hold  the  National  authority  bound  by  the 
most  solemn  obligation  to  God  and  man  to  bring  all  the 
civil  and  military  leaders  of  the  rebellion  to  trial  by 
due  course  of  law.  and  when  they  are  clearly  convicted, 
to  execute  them. 

That  in  the  reconstruction  of  Southern  States  no 
man  should  hold  office  who  held  a  commission  in  the 
rebel  army  or  in  the  Confederate  government,  nor  shall 
he  be  allowed  to  vote. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  National  Government  to  provide 
for  the  entire  extinction  of  slavery. 

The  supreme  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment must  be  maintained  in  the  reconstruction  of 
the  Rebel  States. 

The  last  resolve  pledges  most  earnest  and  cordial  sup- 
port to  Johnson  if  he  carries  out  the  policies  above  set 
forth.17 

As  typical  of  the  patriotism  of  New  England  Metho- 

"  Minutes  of  the  Boston  Methodist  Preachers'  Meeting,  April 
24,  1865. 

68 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


dists  generally  and  the  preachers  in  particular,  I  give 
the  following  incidents: 

In  1863  the  Providence  Conference  had  117  effective 
ministers,  and  of  this  number  five  were  chaplains,  two 
had  enlisted  in  the  ranks,  and  a  number  of  other  min- 
isters, too  old  to  go  themselves,  had  sons  in  the  army.18 
It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the  preachers  to 
take  an  active  part  in  encouraging  enlistments.  A  Meth- 
odist preacher  in  Boston,  in  urging  his  hearers  to  en- 
list, said,  "I  '11  enlist  now,  after  you  receive  the  bene- 
diction that  will  be  a  proper  time  to  enroll  yourselves 
under  your  country's  flag."  This  minister  did  enlist, 
together  with  sixteen  members  of  his  congregation. 
Another  Methodist  preacher,  in  Newton,  Mass.,  placed 
his  name  upon  the  enlistment  roll  at  a  war  meeting, 
and  then  made  the  following  appeal  to  the  assemblage, 
"As  a  servant  of  my  Divine  Master,  I  do  not  call 
upon  you  to  go,  but  I  say  unto  you,  Come. '  '19  Another 
minister,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  published  a  sermon  in 
which  he  urges  all  Christian  men  who  have  been  drafted, 
to  go  into  the  army  without  hesitation,  as  an  example  to 
others.20  It  was  stated  in  one  of  the  papers  in  1862 
that  the  First  Methodist  Church  of  New  Haven  had 
furnished  more  soldiers  for  the  army  than  any  other 
Church  in  Connecticut.  And  this  Church,  at  one  of 
its  Quarterly  Conferences  of  that  year,  appointed  a 
committee  to  send  greetings  to  their  members  who  were 
in  the  army.21  That  Methodist  people  in  New  England 
enlisted  in  large  numbers  there  is  an  abundance  of  evi- 
dence.22 

The  Atlantic  group  of  Conferences  included  three 
or  four  of  the  largest  and  most  influential  Conferences 
in  the  Church.   The  New  York,  the  New  York  East,  the 

™  Zion's  Herald,  Feb.  4,  1863. 

19  Western  Christian  Advocate,  July  30,  1862. 

20  Ibid,  Aug.  19,  1863. 

21  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  May  22,  1862. 

22  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Nov.  27,  1867. 

69 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Newark,  the  New  Jersey,  and  the  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ences alone,  in  1861,  had  a  total  membership  of  184,307 
and  994  regular  preachers,  besides  1,003  local  preach- 
ers.23 

This  group  of  Conferences  also  contained  many  of 
the  most  noted  and  influential  ministers  and  laymen  in 
the  Church.  Among  the  prominent  ministers  in  these 
Conferences  during  this  period  who  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  patriotic  activities  of  the  Church  were  George 
R.  Crooks,  D.  D.  Whedon,  John  McClintock,  Abel  Stev- 
ens, Alfred  Cookman,  John  P.  Newman,  R.  S.  Foster, 
J.  P.  Durbin,  D.  W.  Bartine,  J.  F.  Chaplain,  and  many 
others  of  more  or  less  prominence. 

The  New  York  East  Conference  in  its  various  ses- 
sions during  the  war  passed  exceptionally  strong  reso- 
lutions expressive  of  their  loyalty  to  the  Government. 
In  the  resolutions  of  1861  are  these  words:  "While  we 
love  peace  and  are  the  ministers  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
yet  we  hold  it  to  be  the  sacred  duty  of  all  men  to 
love  their  country  and  to  cherish  freedom,  and  espe- 
cially in  times  of  peril  to  offer  our  civil  rulers  our  aid 
and  sympathy;"  therefore  .  .  .  "we,  the  members  of 
the  New  York  East  Conference  declare  our  earnest  and 
entire  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  our  country  in  this 
conflict,  and  our  purpose  to  use  all  means  legitimate  to 
our  calling  to  sustain  the  Government  of  the  United 
States."24 

In  the  session  of  the  New  York  East  Conference  of 
1863  it  was  determined  by  a  vote  of  the  members  to 
have  the  oath  of  allegiance  administered  to  the  whole 
body.  On  April  7,  1863,  Judge  Betts,  of  the  United 
States  District  Court,  and  Major  General  Wool,  of  the 
army,  were  conducted  into  the  Conference  and  were 
given  "seats  within  the  altar  near  the  bishop."  After 
a  few  patriotic  speeches  Judge  Betts  administered  the 

23  General  Minutes,  1861,  pp.  241,  242. 

24  Minutes  New  York  East  Conference,  1861,  pp.  14,  15. 

70 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


oath,  at  the  close  of  which  General  Wool  and  Hon. 
M.  F.  Odell  addressed  the  Conference.  The  Minutes 
state:  "It  would  be  impossible  to  convey,  in  any  terms, 
.  .  .  a  truthful  view  of  the  most  impressive  occasion; 
the  vast  audience  was  moved  by  emotions  of  moral  sub- 
limity, which  nothing  besides  this  happy  union  of  re- 
ligion and  patriotism  could  have  aroused."25  A  motion 
then  passed  that  the  Oath  of  Allegiance  and  those  who 
signed  it  be  printed  in  the  Minutes.26 

At  this  session  of  the  New  York  East  Conference  an 
interesting  case  came  before  that  body.  One  of  its 
members,  Rev.  T.  A.  Love  joy,  had  been  sent  to  Bast 
Tranby  at  the  session  previous.  The  official  members 
of  that  Church  refused  to  receive  him  as  their  preacher 
unless  he  would  promise  not  to  preach  National  or 
political  sermons.  Mr.  Lovejoy  had  then  appealed  to 
the  presiding  elder  and  was  transferred  to  another 
Church.  The  Minutes  state  that  the  Conference  heartily 
approved  of  his  course,  and  a  collection  was  taken  for 
him  amounting  to  $238.50,  which  the  bishop  (Baker) 
presented  to  him  with  appropriate  remarks.27 

At  the  session  of  this  same  Conference  in  1864  Rev. 
G.  W.  Paddock,  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Law- 
rence, Kan.,  delivered  an  address  before  the  body,  in 
which  he  told  of  Quantrell's  raid  upon  that  place.  The 
Minutes  state:  "It  may  be  doubted  if  a  single  person 
in  that  large  audience  which  listened  to  the  speaker 

•  Minutes  New  York  East  Conference,  1863,  p.  8. 

26  The  following  is  the  oath  taken  by  the  Conference:  "I  do 
solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support,  protect  and  defend  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  against  all  ene- 
mies, whether  domestic  or  foreign,  and  that  I  will  bear  true  faith, 
allegiance  and  loyalty  to  the  same,  any  ordinance,  resolution  or  law 
of  any  other  State  convention  or  Legislature  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding; and  further,  that  I  do  this  with  a  full  determina- 
tion, pledge  and  purpose,  without  any  mental  reservation  or  reason 
whatsoever;  and  further,  that  I  will  well  and  faithfully  perform 
all  the  duties  which  may  be  required  of  me  by  law.  So  help  me 
God." 

27  New  York  East  Conference  Minutes,  1863,  p.  8. 

71 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


was  ever  before  so  deeply  moved  by  any  public  address. 
Tears  flowed  freely  from  all  eyes,  and  a  righteous  in- 
dignation was  aroused  against  the  fiendish  barbarity 
of  our  Nation's  foes."  The  Minutes  also  state  that 
at  the  close  of  the  address  $400  was  given  toward  the 
erection  of  a  church  in  Lawrence.28  At  this  session  it 
was  stated  by  the  secretary  that  he  had  been  informed 
that  the  New  York  East  Conference  had  been  the  first 
religious  body  to  give  moral  support  to  the  Government 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  The  Conference  was 
in  session  when  Ft.  Sumter  was  fired  upon,  and  im- 
mediately took  action  in  sending  words  of  encourage- 
ment to  the  President  of  the  United  States.29 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  New  York  East  Con- 
ference in  1865  were  very  elaborate.  They  were  drawn 
up  by  Dr.  G.  R.  Crooks,  and  consisted  of  a  long  pre- 
amble followed  by  four  resolutions,  closing  with  the 
resolution  that,  as  the  President  had  ordered  Major 
General  Anderson  to  repair  to  Charleston  on  April  14th 
to  raise  over  Ft.  Sumter  the  identical  flag  that  he  was 
compelled  by  his  enemies  four  years  ago  to  haul  down, 
that  Revs.  D.  Curry,  Geo.  R.  Crooks,  and  Hon.  M.  F. 
Odell  be  appointed  a  delegation  to  go  to  Charleston  to 
represent  the  Methodists  in  that  exercise.  While  this 
report  was  being  considered,  a  number  of  patriotic  ad- 
dresses were  made,  and  after  its  adoption  by  a  rising, 
unanimous  vote  the  whole  Conference  united  in  singing 
the  "doxology,"  * '  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings 
flow."30 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  New  York  Confer- 
ence at  their  war  sessions  were  in  many  respects  similar 
to  those  of  the  New  York  East  Conference.  One  of  the 
resolutions  adopted  in  1861  was:  "We  admire  the  spon- 
taneous uprising  of  twenty  millions  of  freemen  which 
the  first  gun  fired  at  Ft,  Sumter  aroused,  who  declare 

26  Minutes  New  York  East  Conference,  1864,  p.  16. 
"Ibid,  p.  20.  30  Ibid,  1865,  pp.  3,  4. 

72 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


that  no  treasure  is  too  costly,  no  sacrifice  too  great,  no 
time  too  long,  to  put  down  treason  and  traitors."  .  .  . 
Another  resolution  of  this  same  year  was:  1 ' We  have 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  present  Government  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  in  its  wisdom  and  energy  to 
put  down  rebellion,  and  to  restore  National  order  and 
tranquillity,  and  therefore  will  give  it  our  hearty  co- 
operation."31 

In  1862  their  resolutions  stated  that  they  would  call 
upon  their  people  to  sustain  the  Government,  to  bear 
cheerfully  increased  taxation,  and  to  frown  upon  all 
covert  treason,  holding  all  rebels  as  untrue  to  the 
Church.32 

At  the  session  of  1863  there  was  considerable  patri- 
otic demonstration  during  the  consideration  of  the  reso- 
lutions on  the  "State  of  the  Country."  The  report 
consisted  of  nine  resolutions,  the  fourth  stating  that  ' i  the 
conduct  of  those  who,  influenced  by  political  affinities 
or  Southern  sympathies,  throw  themselves  in  the  path 
of  almost  every  warlike  measure,  is  in  our  view  covert 
treason. '  '33 

The  Newark  Conference  in  the  course  of  its  patri- 
otic resolutions  adopted  in  1862  stated,  "We  give  no 
countenance  to  any  proposition  which  contemplates  the 
settlement  of  our  National  troubles  by  a  separation  of 
the  States  of  the  Union."34 

In  its  other  sessions  resolutions  similar  to  those  noted 
above  were  passed,  with  like  patriotic  demonstrations.35 

In  the  course  of  the  session  of  the  Newark  Confer- 
ence in  1863  a  "flag  raising"  service  was  held.  At  this 
service  several  patriotic  addresses  were  made.  One 
speaker  stated  that  "people  say  that  the  ministers  have 

31  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  June  6,  1861. 

32  Minutes  New  York  Conference,  1862,  p.  25 ;  also  Christian  Ad- 
vocate and  Journal,  April  24,  1862. 

33  Ibid,  1863,  p.  31. 

34  Minutes  Newark  Conference,  1862,  p.  26. 

35  Ibid,  1863,  pp,  32,  33. 

73 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


turned  politicians;  it  is  not  so.  If  preaching  loyalty 
to  the  Government  be  politics,  then  we  can  afford  to 
be  called  politicians  and,  if  need  be,  abolitionists.  In 
this  great  struggle  the  spirit  of  war  is  the  spirit  of 
the  gospel."36 

In  1865  an  interesting  case  came  up  for  trial  in 
the  Newark  Conference.  Complaint  was  lodged  against 
a  certain  member  that  he  had  voted  illegally  at  the  last 
Presidential  election,  having  voted  in  Pennsylvania 
while  a  resident  of  New  Jersey.  In  the  report  of  the 
case  it  was  stated  that  the  accused  had  also  used  very 
objectionable  expressions  in  reference  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  rebellion.  The  committee  passed  on  the 
character  of  the  accused,  but  stated  that  they  hoped  in 
the  future  he  would  be  more  prudent  and  circumspect 
in  action  and  utterance,  and  that  his  views  on  abolition 
and  slavery  would  soon  be  brought  to  harmonize  more 
fully  with  the  position  of  the  Church.37 

At  the  New  Jersey  Conference  in  1865  the  first  set 
of  resolutions  on  the  State  of  the  Country,  prepared 
by  the  committee,  were  not  strong  enough  to  suit  the 
Conference,  and  were  recommitted.  Among  these  re- 
modeled resolutions  was  one  stating  that  "we  sympa- 
thize with  the  President  and  heads  of  departments  in 
this  trying  state  and  condition  of  our  National  affairs, 
and  that  nothing  within  our  power  to  render  for  the 
support  of  the  administration,  and  the  most  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war,  for  the  conquest  and  subjuga- 
tion of  the  rebellion,  shall  be  withheld."38 

The  action  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in  relation 
to  the  war  has  already  been  noted  in  the  chapter  on 
"The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  Border." 

The  group  of  Conferences  in  Northern  and  Western 
New  York  and  in  Western  Pennsylvania  remain  yet  to 
be  considered  in  this  chapter;  namely,  the  Troy,  the 

36  Ibid,  1863,  pp.  17,  18.  37  Ibid,  1865,  pp.  20,  21. 

38  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  April  2,  1863. 

74 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


Black  River,  the  Genesee,  East  Genesee,  Erie,  Wyoming, 
and  Pittsburgh. 

The  Troy  Conference  in  1861  declared  "that  as  citi- 
zens and  Christian  ministers  we  acknowledge  and  pro- 
claim, before  all  men,  our  hearty  and  abiding  loyalty 
to  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  the  United 
States."39  Again,  in  1863,  they  declare,  "As  Christian 
men  and  citizens  we  stand  ready  to  respond  to  the 
call  of  our  country;"  and  further  they  state  that  they 
"regard  every  effort  of  men  among  us  to  embarrass  the 
Government  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  as  in  the  last 
degree  criminal,  and  that  we  will  labor  to  inspire  a 
spirit  of  unity  and  loyalty  among  all  parties  in  our 
churches  and  congregations,  endeavoring  thus  to  defeat 
the  machinations  of  traitors  and  their  Northern  sym- 
pathizers. '  ,4°  At  this  session  also  the  Oath  of  Allegiance 
was  taken  by  the  entire  Conference.41  In  1864  this 
significant  resolution  appears  among  the  others:  "That 
as  citizens,  as  well  as  ministers,  we  will  not  only  exer- 
cise our  right  of  suffrage  as  occasion  may  require,  but 
we  will  exert  our  influence  to  prevent  the  nomination 
and  election  of  the  incompetent  men  to  all  places  of 
trust  and  responsibility."42 

The  Genesee  Conference  in  1863  pledge  their  "lives, 
fortunes,  and  sacred  honor,  to  maintain  the  Government 
of  the  United  States."43  A  year  later  they  declare  that 
"we  will  not  receive  into  our  Conference  any  one  whose 
patriotism  could  justly  be  called  in  question,"  and  they 
further  state  that  their  idea  of  a  Christian  patriot  is 
one  who  believes  and  prays  for  the  success  of  the  Na- 
tional cause,  who  gives  all  the  aid  he  can  toward  it, 
and  who  is  in  favor  of  continuing  the  struggle.44 

39  Ibid,  May  2,  1861. 

40  Minutes  Troy  Conference,  1863,  1863,  pp.  38,  39. 

41  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  April  30,  1863. 

42  Minutes  Troy  Conference,  1864,  pp.  46,  47. 

43  Minutes  Genesee  Conference,  1863,  p.  10. 

44  Ibid,  1864,  p.  11. 

75 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


The  Black  River  Conference  in  session  in  1861  de- 
clared that,  "  while  we  deprecate  strife  and  bloodshed, 
and  have  earnestly  hoped  and  prayed  that  they  might 
be  averted,  as  a  body  of  over  two  hundred  Methodist 
ministers,  representing  near  23,000  communicants  in 
Northern  New  York,  we  now  feel  ourselves  called  upon, 
by  every  consideration  of  patriotism,  humanity  and  re- 
ligion, to  do  all  in  our  power  to  sustain  the  Government 
of  these  United  States."45 

The  East  Genesee,  the  Erie,  Wyoming,46  and  Pitts- 
burgh, all  had  special  patriotic  features  in  their  various 
sessions  during  the  war.    At  the  Erie  Conference  in 

1862  six  army  chaplains  were  present  and  reported  con- 
cerning their  work.47    The  Pittsburgh  Conference  in 

1863  states  that  "we  claim  the  right  and  regard  it  as 
an  imperative  duty  to  pray  publicly  for  our  civil  rulers 
and  for  the  success  of  our  arms,  and  to  expose  the 
wickedness  of  secession,  and  of  sympathy  therewith,  ir- 
respective of  the  sentiments  of  any  part  of  the  com- 
munity. '  '48 

Concerning  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  the  Christian 
Advocate  states  that  "there  is  not  a  'Copperhead'  or 
sympathizer  with  secession  in  the  whole  body."49  On 
the  last  day  of  the  session  of  this  Conference  in  1863 
the  flag  was  authorized  to  be  displayed  in  the  Church, 
and  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  was  sung.  Com- 
menting on  this  occasion,  the  Pittsburgh  Christian  Ad- 
vocate said:  "It  was  a  grand  scene.  Every  countenance 
seemed  aglow  with  a  patriotic  inspiration  as  the  notes 
swelled  and  rolled  through  the  Conference  room.  In 
the  patriotic  feeling  then  everywhere  visible  and  ready 

45  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  May  2,  1861. 
"Minutes  Wyoming  Conference,  1862,  '63,  64. 
4'  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Aug.  7,  1862. 

48  Minutes  Pittsburgh  Conference,  1863,  p.  22. 

49  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  April  16,  1863. 

76 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


to  burst  forth,  we  read  in  legible  characters  prophecies 
of  our  ultimate  triumph  and  safety."60 

We  have  noted  chiefly  the  formal  patriotic  action  of 
Conferences  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania;  we  turn 
now  to  the  action  of  individual  Churches.  It  was  not 
at  all  an  uncommon  thing,  especially  in  the  country 
districts  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  for  the  Church 
and  the  preacher  to  take  an  active  part  in  encouraging 
enlistments,  and  in  some  instances  the  preacher  proved 
the  chief  assistant  of  the  recruiting  officer.  Instances 
were  known  where  the  recruiting  was  conducted  in 
churches,  something  on  the  same  plan  as  a  Methodist  re- 
vival meeting.  The  minister  and  recruiting  officer  would 
stand  behind  the  altar  in  the  country  or  village  church, 
and  the  preacher  would  urge  the  men  to  come  forward 
and  place  their  names  on  the  roll,  and  instances  have 
already  been  given  where  the  preacher  was  the  first  to 
enlist. 

In  many  of  the  larger  Churches  military  companies 
were  organized  which  were  chiefly  composed  of  members 
of  the  Church  and  congregation.  Such  a  company  was 
organized  in  Ebenezer  Church,  Philadelphia.  Fifty-nine 
members  of  this  Church  entered  the  regular  service,  be- 
sides maintaining  this  emergency  company.51 

The  women  in  the  Churches  also  organized  them- 
selves into  sewing  societies,  for  the  making  of  soldiers' 
underwear,  knitting  of  socks,  and  for  the  pulling  of 
lint.  Of  Wharton  Street  Methodist  Church,  Philadel- 
phia, it  is  stated  that  ' '  company  after  company  marched 
into  this  church  and  received  articles  of  underwear" 
and  other  wearing  apparel  made  by  the  women  of  the 
Church.52    In  some  instances  the  women  of  a  certain 

50  Ibid. 

51 ' '  History  of  Ebenezer  Church,  of  Southwark,  Philadelphia. ' ' 
52 1 <  Memorial  Record  of  Wharton  Street  M.  E.  Church,"  J.  C. 
Hunterson. 

77 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Church  would  undertake  the  care  of  all  the  men  in 

a  hospital.53 

During  the  Gettysburg  campaign,  in  the  summer  of 
1863,  there  was  considerable  excitement  in  Southeastern 
Pennsylvania.  Emergency  companies  were  formed 
everywhere.  Such  a  company  was  formed  by  the  Metho- 
dist preachers  of  Philadelphia  and  vicinity.54  On  June 
29,  1863,  a  special  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  preachers 
of  the  Methodist  Church  was  held,  at  which  time  it 
was  decided  to  issue  a  call  in  the  Evening  Bulletin,  ask- 
ing all  the  male  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  to 
meet  in  their  respective  churches  on  that  same  evening, 
"to  deliberate  and  act  upon  measures  for  city  defense." 
At  this  meeting  also  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
meet  with  certain  Protestant  Episcopal  clergymen,  to 
gain  their  co-operation;  and  also  this  committee  was 
to  wait  upon  the  mayor,  to  ascertain  how  they  could 
best  serve  the  city. 

At  four  o'clock  of  that  day  the  ministers  met  again, 
heard  the  report  of  that  committee  sent  to  confer  with 
the  Episcopalians,  after  which  it  was  determined  to 
go  in  a  body  to  meet  all  the  Protestant  clergy  of  the 
city.  From  this  meeting  all  the  Protestant  ministers 
formed  in  line,  with  the  flag  at  their  head,  and  marched 
to  the  mayor's  office  to  offer  themselves  "for  service 
in  any  capacity  that  he  may  direct."55  Many  of  these 
ministers,  during  these  days,  shouldered  picks  and 
shovels  and  helped  throw  up  fortifications  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.56 

The  Methodist  laity  were  not  behind  the  ministers 
in  the  least  in  their  loyalty  to  the  United  States  and 
in  their  actions  and  expressions  of  patriotism.  The 

53 ' '  Seventy-seventh  Anniversary  of  the  Union  M.  E.  Church, 
Philadelphia,"  pp.  81,  82. 

54  Minutes  Philadelphia  Preachers'  Meeting,  June  29,  1863. 

55  Minutes  Philadelphia  Preachers'  Meeting,  June  29,  1863. 

56  From  the  testimony  of  Eev.  S.  W.  Thomas,  who  took  part  in 
these  events. 

78 


In  the  New  England  Atlantic  States. 


Church  papers  noted  from  time  to  time  certain  regi- 
ments and  companies  which  were  made  up  largely  of 
Methodists.  Thus  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer  stated,  in 
August,  1862,  that  the  sheriff  of  Delaware  County,  Pa., 
had  raised  a  company  made  up  entirely  of  Methodists.57 
The  laymen  of  other  Churches  also  were  largely  repre- 
sented in  the  army.  For  example,  the  Western  Chris- 
tian Advocate  of  November  27,  1861,  stated  that  three 
companies  of  the  Sixty-first  New  York  Regiment  were 
comprised  wholly  of  members  of  Baptist  Churches  in 
New  York.  In  another  Methodist  Church,  out  of  a 
Bible  class  of  eight  young  men  five  had  enlisted,  each 
of  whom  the  minister  presented  with  a  Bible.58 

Of  the  one  hundred  or  so  employees  of  the  Methodist 
Book  Concern  in  New  York,  twenty-four  had  enlisted  by 
August,  1862,  and  the  others  had  formed  themselves  into 
an  association,  the  object  of  which  was  to  care  for  and 
aid  those  of  their  number  who  went  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States.59 

These  instances  that  have  been  given  are  typical  of 
what  was  going  on  in  practically  all  the  Methodist 
Churches  in  the  North.  Seldom  was  a  sermon  preached 
or  a  public  prayer  offered  that  the  war  was  not  men- 
tioned and  the  people  urged  to  a  loyal  support  of  the 
Government.  One  presiding  elder  in  Ohio,  whose  dis- 
trict comprised  territory  in  which  "Butternuts"  were 
numerous,  preached  every  Sunday  (so  he  states)  on 
the  war,  and  everywhere  a  loyal  support  of  the  admin- 
istration and  of  the  war  became  practically  a  part  of 
the  Methodist  creed. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  next  chapter  a  brief  discus- 
sion of  the  number  of  Methodist  soldiers  in  the  Union 
armies  will  be  given. 

57  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Feb.  13,  1862. 
™Ibid,  Sept.  4,  1862. 

59  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Aug.  21,  1862. 


79 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Central 
and  Northwestern  States. 

The  Central  and  the  Northwestern  States  had  a  large 
Methodist  population,  and  in  most  of  them,  if  not  in  all, 
the  Methodist  Church  was  the  most  important  and  in- 
fluential of  all  the  Churches.  In  1861  the  Methodist 
population  in  the  seven  States  in  this  section  was 
425,593,  or  nearly  one-half  of  the  total  Methodist  popu- 
lation in  the  North.1  In  these  States  there  were  5,469 
Methodist  church  buildings,  with  seatings  accommo- 
dating 1,779,265  persons,  with  a  valuation  of  $7,976,780. 
Within  these  States  were  the  following  Annual  Confer- 
ences: Ohio.  North  Ohio,  Cincinnati,  Central  Ohio,  In- 
diana, North  Indiana,  Northwest  Indiana,  Southwestern 
Indiana.  Illinois,  Rock  River,  Michigan,  Detroit,  Wis- 
consin, West  Wisconsin,  Northwest  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Des- 
Moines,  Upper  Iowa,  and  Minnesota.  Within  this  ter- 
ritory also  there  were  three  German  Conferences:  the 
Central  German,  embracing  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Michi- 
gan; the  Northwestern  German,  embracing  Illinois.  Wis- 
consin, and  Minnesota ;  and  the  Southwestern  German, 
which  included  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Kansas. 

1  In  1861  the  Methodist  population  and  the  number  of  Churches 
in  the  seven  Central  and  Northwestern  States,  by  States,  was  as 
follows:  Members.  No.  of  Churches. 

Ohio    138,650   2,341 

Indiana    92,884   1,256 

Illinois    91,811   881 

Michigan   33,137   247 

Wisconsin    23,570   320 

Iowa   39,646   344 

Minnesota    5,895   80 

— Methodist  Almanac,  1863 ;  United  States  Census,  1860. 

80 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


The  patriotic  activities  of  these  Western  Methodists 
were  very  similar  in  nature  to  those  of  the  Methodists 
in  the  Eastern  and  New  England  States,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  that  there  seemed  to  be  even  more  patri- 
otic enthusiasm  there  than  even  among  their  Eastern 
brethren.  The  Cincinnati  Conference  was  especially  pa- 
triotic, which  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  twenty-one  of 
her  preachers  went  as  chaplains,  and  also  by  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  most  famous  preacher-soldiers,  Rev. 
Granville  Moody,  known  throughout  the  country  as  the 
fighting  parson,  was  a  member  of  this  Conference.  In 
1862  the  Cincinnati  Conference  declared,  in  a  series  of 
resolutions:  We  will  "besiege  a  Throne  of  Grace  in  be- 
half of  the  cause  of  liberty  and  good  order,  and  will 
continue  our  efforts  publicly  and  privately,  as  ministers 
and  as  citizens  in  behalf  of  our  Government,  hereby  de- 
claring our  willingness  and  determination  to  serve  our 
country  in  any  position  to  which  that  country  may 
call  us,  ever  holding  ourselves  as  ready  as  our  fathers 
were  to  consecrate  to  our  country's  interest  and  salva- 
tion 'our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honors.'  "2 

Again,  in  1863,  they  declared  that  the  cause  of  the 
country  was  just  and  right,  and  that  the  Government 
ought  to  be  maintained  at  all  hazards,  and  also  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  ministers  to  sustain  the  administration.3 
In  1864  the  Cincinnati  Conference  expressed  its  sym- 
pathy for  the  administration,  again,  in  a  series  of  reso- 
lutions similar  to  those  of  1863.4 

The  other  Ohio  Conferences  seemed  to  be  just  as  pa- 
triotic as  the  Cincinnati ;  indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  make 
any  distinction  between  any  of  the  Conferences  of  this 
section  in  point  of  patriotism.  In  1861  the  North  Ohio 
Conference  declared  that  this  rebellion  should  be  crushed, 
and  the  integrity,  union,  and  honor  of  the  Nation  pre- 

2  Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1862,  12,  13. 

3  Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1863,  pp.  20-22. 
*  Ibid,  1864,  pp.  18,  19. 

6  81 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


served;  and  they  further  resolved  that  "we  are  first 
and  last  opposed  to  all  compromise  with  armed  rebels 
and  traitors."5  In  1862  they  state  that  "we  are  proud 
of  the  universal  loyalty  of  our  ministry  and  member- 
ship."6 The  Central  Ohio  Conference  in  1861  sanc- 
tioned the  Government  for  calling  into  the  field  suffi- 
cient armies,  and  also  stated  that  they  deemed  it  the 
spirit  of  patriotism  and  Christianity  to  stand  firm  in 
the  defense  of  the  country.7  Again,  in  1863,  they  de- 
clare themselves  truly  loyal  and  pledge  undivided  sup- 
port to  the  Government.  In  still  another  resolve  this 
same  year  they  affirm  that  "loyalty  to  our  Government 
is  our  motto ;  that  we  hate  treason,  under  whatever  garb 
it  may  appear,  and  scorn  the  traitor  who  would  betray 
his  country  under  pretense  of  love."8 

The  four  Indiana  Conferences  were  in  no  wise  behind 
their  sister  (Ohio)  Conferences  in  expressions  of  patri- 
otism and  loyalty.  The  Southeastern  Indiana  Confer- 
ence in  1861  stated  in  their  resolutions  "that  we  esteem 
it  as  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  God  for  ministers  or 
members  of  our  Church  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
rebellion;"  and  in  another  resolution  this  same  year 
they  state,  "We  do  most  heartily  espouse  the  cause  of 
the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  pledge  our  prayers,  to- 
gether with  all  the  moral  influence  we  may  be  able  to 
exert,  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Government."9  The 
other  Indiana  Conferences  in  1861  passed  resolutions 
equally  emphatic  in  their  patriotic  expression. 

The  Indiana  Conference  at  its  session  in  1862  re- 
quested the  trustees  of  the  Church  in  which  the  Confer- 

5  North  Ohio  Conference  Minutes,  1861,  pp.  28,  29. 

s  Ibid,  18G3,  pp.  31,  32.  In  some  sections  of  Ohio  there  was  a 
small  split  from  the  Methodist  Church  during  the  war,  made  up  of 
Southern  sympathizers,  which  organized  under  the  name  of  the 
Christian  Union  Church,  and  which  still  exists  in  some  localities. 

7  Central  Ohio  Conference  Minutes,  1861,  pp.  37,  38. 

8  Ibid,  1863,  pp.  31,  32. 

9  Minutes  Southeastern  Indiana  Conference,  1861 ;  also  Western 
Christian  Advocate,  Oct.  23,  1861. 

82 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


ence  was  being  held  to  hoist  the  American  flag  over  the 
Church,  which,  we  are  told,  was  cheerfully  done.10  At 
this  same  session  they  declared,  "We  are  as  much  as 
ever  in  favor  of  the  prosecution  of  the  war  till  it  shall 
terminate  in  the  putting  down  of  the  rebellion  and  in 
the  restoration  of  the  Federal  authority."11  This  reso- 
lution is  significant,  when  we  consider  the  political  con- 
ditions in  Indiana  in  the  fall  of  1862.  Formidable  op- 
position to  the  administration  and  to  the  further  prose- 
cution of  the  war  had  developed  in  this  section,  showing 
great  strength  in  Indiana,  especially  in  the  November 
elections  of  that  year.  This  resolution  indicates  that 
this  opposition  did  not  receive  the  favor  of  the  Metho- 
dist ministers  of  this  section;  and  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  certainty  we  can  state  that  the  "copperhead" 
element  was  very  small  in  the  Methodist  Church,  even 
in  the  section  where  it  prevailed  the  most.  At  this  ses- 
sion, also,  of  the  Indiana  Conference  (1862)  a  resolu- 
tion was  passed  requesting  Bishop  Ames,  the  presiding 
bishop,  to  give  the  ministers  of  the  Conference  who  were 
then  in  the  army  nominal  appointments,  in  order  that 
they  might  be  kept  as  active  members.12  Again,  in 
1864,  we  find  this  Conference  again  condemning  "cop- 
perheadism"  in  the  following  resolution:  "We  will  in 
every  laudable  way  sustain  the  Government  in  its  efforts 
to  put  down  the  rebellion,  both  in  front  and  rear;  and 
in  doing  this  we  will  remember  that  the  Christian  min- 
ister may  speak  of  the  citizens'  civil  duties."13 

The  conditions  prevailing  in  Indiana  were  largely 
duplicated  in  Illinois.  Each  of  the  four  Illinois  Con- 
ferences expressed  their  loyalty  in  series  of  resolutions 
similar  to  those  already  noted.  A  Quarterly  Conference 
in  Southern  Illinois  stated  "that  it  is  an  enormous  sin 
against  God  and  humanity  for  any  person  to  oppose 

10  Minutes  Indiana  Conference,  1862,  p.  4.  "  Ibid. 

12  Minutes  Indiana  Annual  Conference,  1862,  p.  16. 

13  Ibid,  1864,  34,  35.  The  Copperhead  Secret  Society,  * '  Knights 
of  the  Golden  Circle, ' '  was  particularly  strong  in  Southern  Indiana. 

83 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


the  Constitutional  Government  of  the  United  States;" 
and  in  another  resolution  they  state,  "That  we  regard 
it  as  the  duty  of  every  Christian  minister  to  stand  by 
and,  as  far  as  consistent  with  the  ministerial  character, 
to  aid  the  General  Government  in  vindicating  her  rights 
and  re-establishing  her  authority  all  over  this  coun- 
try."14 

The  Rock  River  Conference,  which  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  influential  in  the  Central  West,  and 
included  Chicago,  was  even  more  profuse  than  most 
of  the  others  in  their  patriotic  expressions.  Concerning 
the  session  of  this  Conference  in  1861  the  editor  of  the 
Northwestern  Christian  Advocate  states:  "The  Confer- 
ence is  large  and  loyal — sufficiently  so  to  vacate  every 
pulpit,  if  need  be,  to  sustain  the  Government.  The 
National  flag  floated  over  the  Conference  room  and 
many  patriotic  addresses  were  delivered  by  the  members 
at  a  meeting  called  for  the  purpose."15  This  Conference 
also  states  in  its  series  of  patriotic  resolutions  for  this 
year  that  any  member  entering  the  volunteer  service,  his 
name  should  be  preserved  in  the  records  of  membership ; 
and  in  the  preamble  they  state,  "As  Christians,  as 
Christian  ministers,  we  can  only  say  this  rebellion  must 
be  subdued;  this  Constitution  must  be  maintained."16 
Among  the  resolutions  of  1863  is  one  stating,  "We  con- 
tinue to  discountenance  faint-hearted  endorsement  as 
well  as  avowed  opposition  to  the  Government,  whether 
by  ministers  or  laymen."17  In  their  resolutions  of  1864 
all  ministers  who  move  are  cautioned  not  to  lose  their 
vote  in  the  coming  election.18 

The  Central  Illinois  Conference  in  1863  pays  its 
compliments  to  the  faint-hearted  brethren  in  the  North 
in  these  words:  "We  regard  those  misguided  men  in 

14  Western  Christian  Advocate. 

15  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Oct.  11,  1861. 

36  Minutes  Eock  Eiver  Conference,  1861,  pp.  14-16. 

17  Ibid,  1863.  18  Ibid,  1864,  pp.  25,  26. 

84 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


loyal  States  who  oppose  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war  ...  as  chargeable  with  the  blood  of  our  slaugh- 
tered brethren  as  having  acquired  an  infamy  meriting 
the  abhorrence  of  all  good  men."19 

The  Michigan  Conference  in  1861  pledged  their  all 
for  the  support  of  their  country,  and  promised  that  the 
men  under  arms  should  have  their  love,  support,  and 
prayers.20  In  1863  they  "pledge  to  the  President  and 
governor  of  the  State  undivided  sympathy  and  support 
until  the  Constitution  shall  be  respected,  the  Union  re- 
stored, the  rebellion  overthrown,  and  slavery  blotted 
out. '  '21  At  one  of  the  sessions  of  the  Wisconsin  Confer- 
ence during  the  war  a  patriotic  meeting  was  held  at 
which  Bishop  Baker  presided.  One  witness  states  that 
"enthusiasm  reached  a  high  point,"  and  some  of  the 
brethren  hardly  knew  whether  they  were  fighting  rebels 
at  the  front  or  were  in  a  ministerial  gathering  in  Wis- 
consin. This  Conference  passed  resolutions  on  the  war, 
ending  with  the  declaration,  "This  rebellion,  therefore, 
is  not  only  against  this  Nation,  but  is  treason  to  the 
entire  race  and  to  heaven."22  Again,  in  1863,  appears 
this  vigorous  statement  in  a  series  of  resolutions  adopted 
by  the  Wisconsin  Conference,  "At  such  a  time  as  this, 
neutrality  is  treason,  silence  crime,  and  inaction  unpar- 
donable. ' ' 

The  long  series  of  patriotic  resolutions  adopted  by 
the  Iowa  Conference  in  1861  is  typical  of  the  patriotism 
of  Iowa  Methodists  generally.  Among  these  resolutions 
we  find  this  one:  "Resolved,  That  the  present  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  should  be  sustained  by  every 
American  and  every  resident  of  the  United  States  at 
any  expense  of  men  and  money  in  prosecuting  this  war 

19  Central  Illinois  Conference  Minutes,  1863,  p.  25. 

20  Minutes  Michigan  Conference,  1861,  pp.  33-36. 

21  Ibid,  1863,  pp.  41,  42. 

22  **  History  of  Methodism  in  Wisconsin,"  P.  S.  Bennett,  pp. 
190-211. 

85 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


to  a  favorable  issue."23  One  Iowa  presiding  elder  in 
1862  reports  that  there  are  very  few  young  men  left  in 
his  neighborhood,  and  that  two  of  his  own  sons — one 
only  eighteen  years  of  age — have  joined  the  army,  with 
his  consent.24  Another  minister,  writing  from  Minne- 
sota, states  that  many  of  the  ministers  are  in  the  army, 
and  that  "we  are  willing  to  give  up  all  for  our  coun- 
try."25 

So  much  for  the  formal  resolutions  of  the  Confer- 
ences in  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States.  We  turn 
now  to  a  consideration  of  individual  Churches  in  this 
section. 

I  have  before  me  a  statement  of  a  Union  soldier  from 
Southern  Indiana26  to  the  effect  that  the  Methodist 
Church  in  his  community  was  most  loyal,  and  that  many 
of  the  Churches  organized  companies  of  soldiers,  and 
in  many  instances  the  Churches  were  used  for  recruiting 
purposes.  In  the  southern  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois,  where  the  "copperhead"  element  was  especially 
strong,  feeling  ran  very  high,  and  was  caught  even  by 
the  children.  In  one  instance  some  Methodist  children 
were  playing  "prayer-meeting"  during  these  exciting 
times,  and  one  of  the  prayers  of  a  little  fellow,  who  had 
doubtless  caught  the  spirit  of  dislike  for  copperheads 
from  his  elders,  was,  "0  Lord,  if  there  are  any  little 
'butternuts'  in  this  house,  I  '11  kick  them  out."27  And 
this  illustrated  the  prevalent  feeling  in  the  Methodist 
Church  in  this  section  toward  Southern  sympathizers. 
It  was  a  very  rare  thing  to  find  a  Methodist  preacher 
who  was  a  Democrat;  and  if  it  became  known  that  he 
was  one,  he  had  a  hard  time  collecting  his  salary  and 
gaining  a  hearing. 

23  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Sept.  11,  1861. 

24  Ibid,  Aug.  20,  18G2. 

25  Ibid,  Dec.  11,  1861. 

26  Letter  of  Capt.  H.  D.  Banta,  Hanover,  Ind. 

27  In  some  localities  li  butternuts "  was  +he  Dame  applied  to 
Southern  sympathizers. 

86 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


The  Conferences  on  the  Pacific  Coast — the  Oregon 
and  the  California — and  also  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
have  not  been  noted.  The  membership  of  all  these  Con- 
ferences was  small,  but  none  the  less  patriotic.  During 
the  war  Dr.  Caddock,  pastor  of  the  Church  at  Lawrence, 
visited  the  Eastern  cities,  trying  to  collect  money  to 
build  a  church  at  Lawrence.  His  speeches  and  sermons 
were  everywhere  well  received  and  were  always  patriotic 
in  the  extreme.  In  1863  there  were  seventy  preachers 
in  the  Kansas  Conference,  and  eleven  of  them  were 
chaplains  in  the  army.  Nebraska  Conference  in  the 
same  year  had  but  sixteen  preachers,  one  of  whom  was 
a  chaplain. 

The  General  Conference  of  1864  remains  yet  to  be 
described.  This,  the  fourteenth  delegated  General  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  met  in  the  Old  Union  Church,  Philadelphia,  on 
the  second  day  of  May,  1864.  There  were  216  delegates 
from  forty-nine  Conferences,  presided  over  by  the  six 
bishops.  During  the  morning  of  the  first  session  of  the 
Conference  a  motion  was  made  by  Rev.  Granville  Moody, 
the  famous  " fighting  parson,"  that  "the  Friday  follow- 
ing be  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  to  Al- 
mighty God  on  behalf  of  our  country  in  this  hour  of 
her  peril,"  and  that  Methodist  people  throughout  the 
country  be  requested  to  observe  this  day  by  similar 
services.28  After  some  discussion  this  motion  passed, 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  make  arrangements 
for  the  service. 

Immediately  after  this  was  done  one  of  the  delegates 
stated  on  the  floor  of  the  Conference  that  the  loyal 
ladies  of  St.  Louis  had  presented  Dr.  Charles  Elliott, 
the  war  editor  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  with 
a  beautiful  flag,  and  he  made  the  motion  that  it  be  sus- 
pended in  Union  Church  during  the  session  of  the  Con- 


2S  Journal  of  the  General  Conference,  1864,  p.  22. 

87 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


ference.  This  motion  also  prevailed,  and  the  flag  was 
accordingly  put  in  place. 

On  Wednesday  the  committee  to  arrange  for  the 
fast  day  reported  that  arrangements  had  been  made  to 
hold  services  in  three  churches:  Union,  Green  Street, 
and  Salem;  and  there  were  to  be  three  services  at  each 
church :  morning,  afternoon,  and  evening.  Among  those 
who  made  addresses  were  Bishops  Morris,  Janes,  Scott, 
Simpson,  Baker,  and  Ames,  Drs.  Kingsley,  Thomson, 
Elliott,  Jesse  T.  Peck,  R.  S.  Foster,  Joseph  Cummings, 
Granville  Moody,  and  Thomas  A.  Eddy.29 

Among  the  committees  appointed  on  the  first  day  of 
the  Conference  was  one  on  the  State  of  the  Country. 
Joseph  Cummings,  of  the  New  England  Conference,  was 
chairman,  and  Granville  Moody  was  the  secretary  of  the 
committee.30 

At  the  morning  session  on  May  9th,  Thomas  C.  Gol- 
den, of  the  Northwest  Wisconsin  Conference,  offered  the 
following  resolutions : 

Whereas,  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  the  first  to  render  its  allegiance 
to  the  Government  under  the  Constitution  in  the  days 
of  Washington;  and31 

Whereas,  The  fair  record  of  the  Church  has  never 
been  tarnished  by  disloyalty;  and 

Whereas,  Our  ministers  and  people  are  truly  and 
deeply  in  sympathy  with  the  Government  in  its  efforts 
to  put  down  rebellion  and  set  the  captives  free;  there- 
fore, 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  proceed  to  Washington  and  to 
present  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  a  suit- 
able address,  the  assurances  of  our  Church  that  we  are 

29  Journal  of  the  General  Conference,  1864,  pp.  61,  62. 

30  For  personnel  of  this  committee  see  ibid,  p.  37,  38. 

31  This  refers  to  the  fact  that  during  Washington 's  first  admin- 
istration Bishops  Coke  and  Asbury  tendered  to  Washington  an  ad- 
dress expressing  loyalty  to  the  United  States  in  behalf  of  American 
Methodism.  Stevens,  "History  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  vol. 
ii,  pp.  501-503. 

88 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


with  him,  heart  and  soul,  in  the  present  struggle  for 
human  rights  and  free  institutions."32 

These  resolutions  were  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
the  State  of  the  Country,  with  instructions  to  report  at 
the  earliest  moment,  and  accordingly  on  May  13th  the 
committee  reported  favorably  on  these  resolutions,  rec- 
ommending, however,  that  the  number  of  the  committee 
to  bear  the  address  to  the  President  be  five  instead  of 
three.33  This  report  was  adopted,  and  on  the  following 
day  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  Dr.  Joseph  Cum- 
mings,  presented  to  the  Conference  an  address  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  also  nominated  the 
deputation  of  five  to  bear  the  address  to  Washington. 
The  nominations  were  as  follows:  Bishop  Edward  R. 
Ames,  Joseph  Cummings,  George  Peck,  Charles  Elliott, 
Granville  Moody.34 

The  address  of  the  Conference  is  too  long  to  give 
verbatim,  but  it  must  not  be  passed  over  entirely.  In 
relation  to  the  Church's  part  in  the  war  it  stated:  "In 
the  present  struggle  for  the  Nation's  life  many  thou- 
sands of  her  members  and  a  large  number  of  her  min- 
isters have  rushed  to  arms  to  maintain  the  cause  of  God 
and  humanity.  They  have  sealed  their  devotion  to  their 
country  with  their  blood  on  every  battlefield  of  this 
terrible  war."  Further  on  the  address  states,  "Our 
warmest  and  constant  prayer  is  that  this  cruel  and 
wicked  rebellion  may  be  speedily  suppressed;  and  we 
pledge  you  our  hearty  co-operation  in  all  appropriate 
means  to  serve  this  object."  The  closing  paragraph 
reads:  "The  prayers  of  millions  of  Christians,  with  an 
earnestness  never  manifested  for  rulers  before,  daily 
ascend  to  heaven  that  you  may  be  endued  with  all 
needed  wisdom  and  power.  Actuated  by  the  sentiment 
of  the  loftiest  and  purest  patriotism,  our  prayer  shall 
be  continually  for  the  preservation  of  our  country  un- 

32  Journal  of  the  General  Conference,  1864,  p.  98. 

33  Ibid,  p.  147.  "Ibid,  155,  156. 

89 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


divided,  for  the  triumph  of  our  cause,  and  for  a  perma- 
nent peace,  gained  by  the  sacrifice  of  no  moral  princi- 
ples, but  founded  on  the  Word  of  God,  and  securing  in 
righteousness  liberty  and  equal  rights  to  all."35 

On  May  17th  the  committee  bearing  this  address 
went  to  "Washington  to  tender  it  in  person  to  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. The  committee  adopted  a  suggestion  of  Rev.  Gran- 
ville Moody's  that  he  place  the  address  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  make  arrangements  for  the  receiv- 
ing of  the  committee.  This  was  done,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  at  ten  o'clock  the  President  with  his  Cabinet 
formally  received  the  representatives  of  the  General  Con- 
ference. Bishop  Ames  introduced  his  colleagues,  and 
then  requested  the  secretary  of  the  committee  to  read 
the  address.  At  the  close  Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  ad- 
dress, and  then  turning  to  his  desk,  he  took  up  his 
reply  which  he  had  prepared  over  night,  and  read:30 

Gentlemen:  In  response  to  your  address,  allow 
me  to  attest  the  accuracy  of  its  historical  statements,  in- 
dorse the  sentiments  it  expresses,  and  thank  you  in  the 
Nation's  name  for  the  sure  promise  it  gives. 

Nobly  sustained  as  the  Government  has  been  by  all 
the  Churches,  I  would  utter  nothing  which  might  in 
the  least  appear  invidious  against  any.  Yet  without  this, 
it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the  .Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  not  less  devoted  than  the  best,  is  by  its  greater 
numbers  the  most  important  of  all.  It  is  no  fault  in 
others  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  sent  more 
soldiers  to  the  field,  more  nurses  to  the  hospitals,  and 
more  prayers  to  heaven  than  any.  God  bless  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  !  Bless  all  the  Churches !  And 
blessed  be  God,  who  in  this  our  great  trial  giveth  us 
the  Churches.  (Signed)    A.  Lincoln.37 

3 '  Ibid,  pp.  378-380 ;  also  McPherson 's  ' '  Rebellion, ' '  p.  498. 

38  For  an  account  of  this  meeting  see  the  ' '  Autobiography  of 
Rev.  Granville  Moody,  D.  D.,"  edited  by  Rev.  Sylvester  Weeks, 
pp.  441-445;  also  "Lincoln's  Tribute  to  Methodism,"  by  R.  T. 
Stevenson,  Christian  Advocate,  Feb.  7,  1907. 

37  The  original  of  this  address  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Miss 
Rachel  Trimble,  of  Columbus,  Ohio. 

90 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


Among  Methodists  this  noble  tribute  of  Lincoln's  is 
most  highly  treasured,  and  very  justly  so. 

The  next  day,  May  19th,  the  committee  represented 
by  Bishop  Ames  made  a  report  of  their  visit  to  the 
President  and  read  before  the  Conference  Mr.  Lincoln's 
tribute.38 

The  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Country  made 
their  main  report  on  May  27th.  It  consisted  of  a  long 
preamble,  followed  by  a  series  of  six  resolutions.  In 
the  preamble  the  causes  of  the  rebellion  are  reviewed 
and  the  loyal  position  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
commended.  Among  its  sentences  occur  the  following: 
"It  becomes  us  to  pray  most  earnestly  for  the  end  of 
this  conflict  and  for  a  peace  established  in  righteousness 
on  the  Word  of  God,  but  we  should  jealously  guard 
against  a  false  and  hollow  peace  gained  at  the  sacrifice 
of  moral  principles."  Further  on  it  continues:  "We 
should  frown  with  indignation  on  all  as  guilty  of  dis- 
loyalty Who  coldly  criticise  every  measure  of  the  ad- 
ministration in  this  struggle  for  the  National  life  under 
the  hypocritical  pretense  that  they  are  careful  that  the 
fundamental  law  should  not  be  violated  and  we  should 
give  to  all  honest,  earnest,  righteous  measures  to  crush 
this  rebellion  our  hearty  support." 

A  summary  of  the  six  resolutions  is  here  given: 

1.  The  promise  to  remember  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  all  officers  of  the  Government  and  of 
the  army  and  navy  in  their  prayers. 

2.  They  proclaim  it  the  duty  of  the  Government 
to  prosecute  the  war  with  all  the  resource,  and  they 
promise  support  and  co-operation. 

3.  The  cause  of  the  war  is  the  Nation's  forgetful- 
ness  of  God  and  slavery,  and  it  is  the  Nation's  duty 
to  humble  itself  to  and  to  honor  God. 

4.  The  Constitution  should  be  charged  as  to  make  it 
recognize  God  and  the  Nation's  dependence  upon  Him. 

■  Journal  of  the  General  Conference,  1864,  p.  177. 

91 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


5.  Slavery  is  abhorrent  to  the  principles  of  "reli- 
gion, humanity,  and  civilization,"  and  they  favor  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  prohibiting  it  through- 
out the  country. 

6.  While  deploring  the  evils  of  war,  they  rejoice  in 
the  manifestation  of  benevolences  as  displayed  in  the 
Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions  and  in  the  associa- 
tions for  the  Freedman,  and  they  pledge  these  organi- 
zations their  support.39 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  just  how  many  sol- 
diers in  the  Union  army  and  navy  were  Methodists,  but 
it  is  impossible  to  give  the  exact  number.  The  Phila- 
delphia Conference,  however,  in  1864  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions  which,  had  they  been  carried  out,  would 
have  given  more  or  less  exact  information  in  this  re- 
gard.   These  resolutions  were  as  follows: 

Whereas,  There  now  exists  a  fearful  struggle  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  Federal  Government  against 
treason  and  rebellion;  and 

Whereas,  The  history  of  this  great  struggle  will  be 
written  and  published  to  the  world;  and 

Whereas,  It  is  important  that  the  history  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  its  connection  with  this 
struggle  be  correctly  and  fully  written;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  Conference  be 
requested  to  furnish  to  the  secretary  at  the  next  session 
a  correct  statement  of  the  number  of  our  Churches  and 
congregations  who  have  entered  the  United  States  service 
to  put  down  the  wicked  rebellion  now  afflicting  our 
country;  and  what  number  of  them  have  held  official 
positions  in  our  army  and  navy,  with  their  respective 
rank,  and  what  number  of  them  have  been  wounded, 
killed  or  died  in  the  service  of  their  country; 

Resolved  (2),  That  these  returns  be  printed  in  the 
published  Minutes  of  the  Conference ; 

Resolved  (3),  That  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  be  requested  to  present  the  above  resolu- 


39  Ibid,  pp.  380-383. 

92 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


tions  to  the  several  Annual  Conferences  of  the  Church 
for  their  concurrence.40 

At  the  next  session  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
(1865)  the  same  series  of  resolutions  were  again  adopted, 
and  were  printed  in  the  Minutes  of  that  year.41 

Not  many  of  the  Conferences  carried  out  the  inten- 
tion of  these  resolutions.  The  West  Wisconsin  Confer- 
ence, however,  in  1862  reported  the  number  of  enlisted 
men  from  the  various  Churches  within  its  bounds.  This 
Conference  embraced  only  eleven  counties,  which  were 
not  thickly  populated.  The  number  from  the  five  dis- 
tricts of  that  Conference  in  1862  was:  Madison  District, 
75 ;  Mineral  Point  District,  68 ;  Point  Bluff  District,  43 ; 
Platteville  District,  34;  Prairie  du  Chien  District,  19 ; 
making  a  total  for  the  first  year  of  the  war  of  239.42 
The  members  of  the  West  Wisconsin  Conference  in 
1862  was  7,779. 43  It  was  stated  that  these  returns  were 
imperfect,  and  probably  a  number  of  names  were  not 
reported,  but  even  if  Methodists  enlisted  in  that  pro- 
portion throughout  the  country,  it  would  give  a  total 
of  31,000  Methodists  in  the  Union  army  for  the  first 
year  of  the  war  alone,  or  close  to  125,000  for  the  four 
years.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  enlistments 
of  Methodists  in  other  sections  of  the  country,  especially 
in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  were  larger 
in  proportion  than  in  Wisconsin.  Nicolay  and  Hay  in 
their  "Abraham  Lincoln"  state  that  "the  Western 
armies  especially  were  filled  with  the  young  and  vigor- 
ous fighting  men  of  that  connection"  (Methodist  Epis- 
copal).44 

We  have  record  of  a  number  of  companies  made  up 

40  Minutes  Philadelphia  Conference,  1864,  p.  51. 

41  Ibid,  1865,  p.  52. 

42 "  History  of  Methodism  in  Wisconsin, "  Bennett  and  Lawson, 
pp.  370,  371. 

43  General  Minutes  of  the  Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  1862,  1863,  p.  158. 

44  "  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,"  vol.  vi,  p.  324. 

93 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


largely  of  Methodists.  The  Ninety-eighth  Ohio  con- 
tained four  Methodist  preachers  and  a  large  supply  of 
class  leaders,  stewards,  exhorters,  and  Sunday  school 
superintendents,  and  Company  E  of  that  regiment  con- 
tained sixty  Methodists.45  One  company  from  Delaware 
County,  Pa.,  was  composed  entirely  of  Methodists.46  In 
another  Pennsylvania  company  containing  69  soldiers 
who  were  Church  members,  35  were  Methodists,  9  Lu- 
theran, 12  Presbyterian,  1  Moravian,  8  Baptists,  and 
4  Episcopalians.17  In  the  Fourteenth  Virginia  Regiment 
the  colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  four  captains,  and 
upwards  of  three  hundred  privates  were  Methodists.48 

Rev.  T.  B.  Bratton,  of  the  Missouri  Conference, 
raised  two  companies,  including  many  members  of  his 
own  Church,  for  the  Thirty-fourth  Missouri  Regiment. 
In  a  little  Church  at  Pontiac,  Central  Illinois  Confer- 
ence, the  minister  and  all  the  male  members  but  three 
enlisted.49  A  large  proportion  of  the  Twelfth  Michigan 
Regiment  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  from 
the  Niles  District.  The  assistant  editor  of  Zion's  Her- 
ald, Rev.  J.  E.  Round,  raised  a  company  of  nine-months' 
men,  and  Rev.  Geo.  Bowler,  of  the  New  England  Con- 
ference, recruited  a  regiment.50  In  1862  there  were 
nine  preachers  of  the  Western  Virginia  Conference  in 
the  army  as  chaplains.51  Besides  the  large  number  of 
Methodist  preachers  who  entered  the  army  as  chaplains 
there  were  a  considerable  number  who  became  commis- 
sioned officers,  and  also  a  larger  number  who  were 
simply  privates.  In  1862  it  was  reported  that  there 
were  sixty-three  Methodist  preachers  who  held  commis- 
sions, as  follows:  4  colonels,  2  lieutenant-colonels,  1 
major,  36  captains,  and  20  other  commissioned  officers.52 

General  Clinton  B.  Fisk  in  1862  stated  that  fifteen 

*  Christian  Advocate,  Sept.  11,  1862. 

46  Ibid,  Aug.  21,  1862,  from  Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

47  Ibid,  May  5,  1864.  50  Ibid,  Sept.  11,  1862. 
4S  Ibid,  Oct.  30,  1862.  31  Ibid.  Feb.  6,  1862. 
i9Ibid,  Sept,  4,  1862.                 52  Ibid,  June  19,  1862. 

94 


In  the  Central  and  Northwestern  States. 


per  cent  of  the  composition  of  the  Union  armies  were 
Methodists,53  and  if  this  proportion  would  hold  true  for 
the  four  years  of  the  war,  it  would  bring  the  number 
to  something  like  300,000,  which  doubtless  is  consider- 
ably too  large.  A  study  of  Methodist  statistics  for  the 
war  would  indicate  somewhat  the  large  contribution  of 
men  to  the  army  and  navy  made  by  the  Methodist 
Church.  In  1862  there  was  a  decrease  of  45,617  in  the 
membership  over  1861 ;  in  1863  there  was  a  decrease  of 
19,512  over  1862;  in  1864  there  was  a  slight  increase 
of  4,926  over  1863,  and  again  a  slight  increase  of  939 
in  1865.  When  the  war  began,  the  total  membership  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  990,447,  and  when 
the  war  closed  there  was  a  membership  of  929,259 ;  a 
net  loss  for  the  war  of  61, 188. 54  There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  this  loss  was  largely  due  to  enlistments  of 
Methodist  men  in  the  army  of  the  Union. 

™Ibid,  March  13,  1862. 

34  General  Minutes,  1860-1865. 


95 


CHAPTER  V. 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  the 

War. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war,  following  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Union  armies,  many  cities,  towns,  and  other 
localities  throughout  the  South,  fell  as  a  matter  of 
course  into  Federal  hands.  In  most  instances  where 
such  was  the  case  the  regular  ministers  in  charge  of  the 
various  Churches  in  those  places  fled  on  the  approach 
of  the  Federal  armies  and  left  their  flocks,  or  what  was 
left  of  them,  to  get  along  as  best  they  might.1  Such 
was  the  case  in  New  Orleans,  after  its  capture  by 
General  B.  F.  Butler.  At  least  twoscore  churches  in 
that  city  were  left  unoccupied,  and  in  the  five  Methodist 
churches  in  the  city  in  1862  there  was  not  a  single  min- 
ister habitually  officiating.  Such  was  also  the  case  in 
the  five  Presbyterian  churches  in  New  Orleans.2  Like 
conditions  prevailed  in  Baton  Rouge,  where  a  large  and 
beautiful  white  marble  church  was  standing  idle;  and 
also  in  Newbern,  N.  C. ;  Vicksburg,  Natchez,  Pensacola, 
Memphis,  and  many  other  places,  large  and  small,  in 
all  parts  of  the  South  where  the  Union  armies  had  met 
with  any  considerable  success.3 

This  situation  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  high 
officials  of  the  Churches  in  the  North,  and  of  Northern 

1  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Oct.  9,  1862;  also  "The 
Church  and  the  Rebellion,"  Stanton,  pp.  332-334. 

2  McPherson 's  ' '  Rebellion, ' '  p.  545.  See  table  from  the  Report 
of  a  Committee  Commissioned  by  the  Provost  Marshal  General  of 
the  Dept.  of  the  Gulf  to  investigate  the  condition  of  Presbyterian 
and  Baptist  Churches  in  New  Orleans. 

3  Christian  Advocate,  Feb.  4,  1864. 

96 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 

Church  people  generally,  mainly  through  letters  written 
many  times  by  army  chaplains  to  the  Church  papers  or 
to  their  friends,  and  I  have  found  also  a  number  of  let- 
ters describing  Church  conditions  in  the  South  written 
by  privates.  The  various  issues  of  the  Church  papers  of 
all  denominations  throughout  the  war  were  filled  with 
war  news,  and  in  a  prominent  place,  often  on  the  front 
page,  appeared  some  sort  of  direct  communication  from 
the  seat  of  war.  These  communications  often  contained 
information  concerning  the  condition  of  the  Churches  in 
the  particular  locality  from  which  the  letter  was  written. 
These  deserted  churches  were  sometimes  used  by  the 
chaplains  for  services,  and  when  this  was  the  case  the 
members  of  the  congregation  were  usually  invited  to 
attend  the  services  with  the  soldiers.  But  of  course  this 
could  be  only  a  temporary  arrangement.4 

That  this  situation  in  the  South  was  generally  known 
in  Northern  Church  circles  is  evidenced  by  the  following 
resolutions  passed  by  the  Methodist  Ministers'  Associa- 
tion in  Boston,  October  13,  1862 : 

Resolved,  That,  inasmuch  as  one  of  the  consequences 
of  the  war  to  suppress  the  great  rebellion  in  the  South- 
ern part  of  this  country  is  to  open  large  tracts  of  coun- 
try inhabited  by  many  thousands  of  our  fellow  country- 
men who  are  now  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  deprived 
of  Church  privileges,  we  deem  it  the  duty  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Board  of  the  Churches  to  examine  the  demands 
of  such  places  for  aid  from  time  to  time,  and  whenever 
in  their  judgment  the  employment  of  missionaries  in 
those  places  would  probably  promote  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  the  salvation  of  souls,  they  should  establish  and 
sustain  such  missions. 

Resolved,  That  we  believe  that  it  is  the  imperative 
duty  of  the  Missionary  Board  at  once  to  enter  upon  this 
work,  and  that  the  Churches  generally  would,  if  properly 
appealed  to,  contribute  liberally  to  sustain  them."5 

4  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Oct.  9,  1862. 

5  Minutes  of  the  Boston  Methodist  Preachers '  Meeting,  October 
13,  1862. 

7  97 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Similar  resolutions  were  adopted  in  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia,6 and  other  places,  and  the  Missionary  Boards  of 
the  various  denominations  were  considering  the  appro- 
priation of  money  for  special  work  in  the  South  as 
early  as  November,  1862. 

But  before  such  work  in  the  South  could  be  under- 
taken by  the  Churches,  the  consent  of  the  Government 
had  to  be  obtained  and  the  protection  of  the  various 
Union  commanders  in  the  South  secured.  To  obtain  this 
permission,  Bishop  Edward  R.  Ames,  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  went  to  Secretary  Stanton  and 
secured  the  following  order  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment: 

War  Department,  Adjudant  General's  Office. 

Washington,  November  30,  1862. 

To  the  Generals  commanding  the  Departments  of  Mis- 
souri, the  Tennessee,  and  the  Gulf,  and  all  Generals 
and  Officers  commanding  armies,  detachments,  and 
posts,  and  all  officers  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States  in  the  above  mentioned  Departments: 

You  are  hereby  directed  to  place  at  the  disposal  of 
Rev.  Bishop  Ames  all  houses  of  worship  belonging  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  which  a  loyal 
minister,  who  has  been  appointed  by  a  loyal  Bishop  of 
said  Church  does  not  officiate. 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  the  Government 
in  its  efforts  to  restore  tranquillity  to  the  community  and 
peace  to  the  Nation,  that  Christian  Ministers,  should  by 
example  and  precept,  support  and  foster  the  loyal  senti- 
ment of  the  people. 

Bishop  Ames  enjoys  the  entire  confidence  of  this  De- 
partment, and  no  doubt  is  entertained  that  all  ministers 
who  may  be  appointed  by  him  will  be  entirely  loyal. 
You  are  expected  to  give  him  all  the  aid,  countenance, 
and  support  practicable  in  the  execution  of  his  impor- 
tant mission.  You  are  also  authorized  and  directed 
to  furnish  Bishop  Ames  and  his  clerk  with  transporta- 


6  Minutes  Philadelphia  Preachers'  Meeting,  Nov.,  1862. 

98 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 


tion  and  subsistence  when  it  can  be  done  without  preju- 
dice to  the  service  and  will  afford  them  courtesy,  assist- 
ance, and  protection. 

By  Order  of  the  Secretary  of  War.7 

On  December  9th  the  same  order  was  given  concern- 
ing houses  of  worship  of  the  same  denomination  in  the 
Departments  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  de- 
livered to  Bishop  0.  C.  Baker,  and  those  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  South,  and  delivered  to  Bishop  E.  S.  Janes.8 
On  December  30th  the  same  order  was  given  concerning 
Methodist  Churches  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  de- 
livered to  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson. 

On  January  14,  1864,  a  similar  order  was  issued  con- 
cerning the  Baptist  Churches  in  the  South,  the  military 
commanders  being  directed  to  turn  over  to  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  all  churches  of  the 
Baptist  Church  South  ' '  in  which  a  loyal  minister  of  said 
Church  does  not  now  officiate. '  '9  On  February  15,  1864, 
the  military  commanders  were  directed  to  place  at  the 
disposal  of  the  agent  of  the  "  Board  of  Home  Missions 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church' '  all  houses  of  wor- 
ship belonging  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  1  'in  which  a  loyal  minister  was  not  officiating."10 
An  order  of  the  War  Department,  dated  March  10,  1864, 
and  relating  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  states  that 
"The  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Mis- 
sions" has  the  entire  confidence  of  the  department,  and 
the  military  commanders  throughout  the  South  are  to 
permit  all  ministers  bearing  a  commission  from  these 
boards  to  exercise  the  functions  of  their  office  and  are 
to  give  such  countenance  and  support.11  This  last  order 
was  issued  at  the  solicitation  of  the  two  secretaries  of 

7McPherson,  * < Kebellion, ' '  p.  521;  "  Official  Becords,"  vol.  34, 
p.  311. 

8  Ibid,  p.  521.  10  McPherson,  p.  522. 

9  Ibid.  11  Ibid. 

99 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


the  respective  boards  mentioned  in  the  order,  one  located 
in  New  York  and  the  other  in  Philadelphia. 

On  March  23,  1864,  the  following  order  to  the  mili- 
tary commanders  in  the  South,  relating  to  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  was  issued : 

You  are  hereby  directed  to  give  to  the  teachers  and 
missionaries  sent  out  by  the  "Church  of  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ"  such  privileges  and  facilities  for 
their  work  within  the  limits  of  your  commands  as  are 
usually  given  to  others  under  similar  circumstances  and 
are  not  prejudiced  to  the  service."12 

These  orders  of  the  War  Department  opened  the 
way  for  the  various  Churches  to  send  their  representa- 
tives into  the  South,  and  we  find  Bishop  Ames  immedi- 
ately after  securing  the  order  noted  above,  taking  a  trip 
into  the  South  to  investigate  conditions  there,  prepara- 
tory to  sending  loyal  ministers  into  the  deserted  districts. 
And  we  also  find  the  respective  missionary  boards  and 
societies  of  the  various  Churches  appropriating  consider- 
able sums  of  money  to  carry  on  this  work.  Early  in 
1864  the  Missionary  Board  of  the  Methodist  Church 
made  an  appropriation  of  $35,000  for  this  work  in  the 
South,13  and  a  number  of  missionaries  were  sent  within 
the  Union  lines  to  take  possession  of  the  vacant  fields 
and  pulpits.  The  Minutes  of  the  various  Conferences 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  1864-65  record 
twenty-one  regularly  ordained  men  who  were  sent  as 
missionaries  to  the  South  during  the  last  two  years  of 
the  war,  and  besides  these  there  were  numerous  teachers 
and  other  workers  sent  into  the  field  to  do  missionary 
work.  Among  the  places  to  which  they  were  sent  were 
New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  Nashville ;  Newbern,  N.  C. ; 
Beaufort  and  Charleston,  S.  C. ;  Shelbyville  and  vicinity, 
Murfreesborough,  and  Memphis.14 

12  Ibid.  "Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1864,  pp.  629,  630. 

14  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  March  22,  1864;  also  Gen- 
eral Minutes  of  the  Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
1862-1865,  2  vols. 

100 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 

A  few  days  after  the  occupation  of  the  city  of 
Charleston  by  the  Union  army,  the  Methodist  missionary 
in  charge  of  that  military  department  visited  the  city 
to  look  after  Methodist  interests  there.  It  was  his  plan 
to  get  possession  of  the  Methodist  churches  in  the  city 
not  simply  by  military  authority,  but  at  the  request 
of  the  Official  Boards  of  these  Churches.  This  he  seems 
to  have  succeeded  in  doing,  for  on  March  9,  1865,  we 
find  the  various  officers  of  the  Methodist  Churches  in 
Charleston  passing  resolutions  requesting  the  com- 
mander of  the  post  of  Charleston  to  turn  over  to  the 
missionary  appointed  to  that  department  all  the  Metho- 
dist churches  and  parsonages  in  the  city;  also  pledging 
to  the  missionary  their  aid,  sympathy,  and  co-operation. 
Of  the  first  service  held  in  a  Methodist  church  in 
Charleston15  after  its  occupation  by  the  Union  army  it 
was  stated  that  the  church  was  about  two-thirds  full, 
and  that  when  the  country  and  the  President  were 
prayed  for  there  were  audible  responses  in  the  congre- 
gation. 

The  military  order  relating  to  the  churches  and  pul 
pits  in  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  will  illustrate  the  usual 
method  of  procedure  in  taking  military  possession  of  the 
churches,  and  will  also  show  to  what  extent  these 
churches  were  controlled  by  the  military  commanders: 

General  Order  No.  3. — All  places  of  public  worship 
in  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  are  hereby  placed  under  the 
Provost  Marshal  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  respect- 
ively, who  shall  see  the  pulpits  properly  filled  by  dis- 
placed, when  necessary  the  present  incumbents,  and  sub- 
stituting men  of  known  loyalty  and  the  same  sectarian 
denomination,  either  military  or  civil,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Commanding  General. 

They  shall  see  that  the  Churches  are  open  freely  to 
all  officers  and  soldiers,  white  or  colored,  at  the  usual 
hour  of  worship,  and  at  other  times,  if  desired,  and 
they  shall  see  that  no  insult  or  indignity  be  offered  to 

16  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  March  23,  1865. 
101 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


them,  either  by  word,  look  or  jesture,  on  the  part  of  the 
congregation.  The  necessary  expenses  will  be  levied, 
as  far  as  possible,  in  accordance  with  the  previous  usages 
or  regulations  of  each  congregation,  respectively.  No 
property  shall  be  removed,  either  public  or  private,  with- 
out permission  from  these  head-quarters."16 

The  following  letter,  dated  from  Memphis,  December 
23,  1863,  addressed  to  Bishop  Ames,  written  by  the 
Union  commander  of  that  post,  will  further  illustrate 
the  method  by  which  the  Southern  Church  properties 
were  turned  over  to  their  Northern  brethren: 

In  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
dated  Washington,  November  30,  1863,  ...  I  place 
at  your  disposal  a  house  of  worship  known  as  "Wesley 
Chapel,"  in  the  city  of  Memphis,  State  of  Tennessee. 
The  said  house  being  claimed  as  the  property  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  there  being  no 
loyal  minister  appointed  by  a  loyal  Bishop,  now  offici- 
ating in  said  house  of  Worship.17 

This  action  of  the  Northern  Churches,  in  conjunction 
with  the  military  authority,  in  going  into  the  South  at 
this  time  and  under  these  circumstances,  aroused  con- 
siderable hostility  upon  the  part  of  the  Church  people 
in  the  South  and  served  to  increase  their  bitterness  of 
feeling  toward  their  Northern  brethren.  This  action  of 
the  Northern  Churches  was  denounced  in  the  bitterest 
language  by  Southern  Conventions,  Presbyteries,  Synods, 
and  Conferences.  In  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  of 
1864,  resolutions  were  proposed  protesting  against  the 
action  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  in  procuring 
the  order  from  the  War  Department  permitting  that 
board's  missionaries  to  go  into  the  Southern  States,  and 
they  called  upon  the  General  Assembly  to  "at  once  dis- 
avow the  said  act,  so  that  the  Church  may  be  saved  from 
the  sin,  the  reproach,  and  ruin  which  this  thing  is  cal- 
culated to  bring  upon  her."18 

18  "The  Church  and  the  Rebellion,"  Stanton,  pp.  239. 
17  McPherson,  pp.  522,  523.         18  McPherson,  p.  522. 

102 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 

On  April  6,  1864,  a  convention  of  ministers  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  from  States  within 
the  Federal  lines  met  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  adopting  measures  for  the  preservation  of 
their  Church  properties.  Eight  Conferences  were  repre- 
sented. This  convention  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tions upon  the  suhject: 

Whereas,  Under  an  order  issued  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  the  authorities  of  another  ecclesiastical  body,  dis- 
tinct from,  if  not  antagonistic  to  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  South,  have  been  impowered  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  houses  of  worship  belonging  to  said  Church ; 
and 

Whereas,  We  are  informed  and  believe  that  said  or- 
der does  not  meet  the  approval  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States;  and  further,  believing  that  in  the  judg- 
ment and  enlightened  Christian  feeling,  both  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  army  and  many  sober-minded  Christians,  the 
order  is  regarded  as  unjust,  unnecessary  and  subversive 
alike  of  good  order  and  the  rights  of  a  numerous  body 
of  Christians;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  do  most  respectfully  protest 
against  the  execution  of  said  order,  and  request  the  Pres- 
ident to  restrain  and  prevent  its  enforcement.19 

It  was  the  feeling  among  many  Southern  Methodists 
that  the  Church  in  the  North  was  trying  to  absorb  the 
Southern  Church.  Indeed,  many  of  the  leading  Metho- 
dists in  the  North  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  reunion 
of  the  two  great  bodies  of  Methodists  ought  to  be  at- 
tempted at  the  close  of  the  war.  The  Union  would  be  re- 
united, why  not  Methodism  ?20  But  the  deathblow  to  any 
attempt  at  a  union  of  the  Churches,  North  and  South, 
at  this  time  was  struck  by  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist 
Church  South21  in  a  pastoral  letter  which  they  sent  out 

19  Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1864,  p.  515. 

20  Ibid,  1865. 

21  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  had  separated  from 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1844  over  the  question  of  slave- 
holding  in  the  Church,  and  since  that  time  had  maintained  an  en- 
tirely separate  organization  in  the  South. 

103 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


over  the  South  at  the  close  of  the  war.  One  of  the 
reasons  they  give  why  a  union  with  Northern  Metho- 
dism is  impossible  was  ' '  the  conduct  of  certain  Northern 
Methodist  bishops  and  preachers  in  taking  advantage  of 
the  confusion  incident  to  a  state  of  war  to  intrude  them- 
selves into  several  of  our  houses  of  worship,  and  in  con- 
tinuing to  hold  these  places  against  the  wishes  and  pro- 
tests of  the  congregations  and  rightful  owners."  This 
conduct,  they  go  on  to  state,  causes  them  pain  "not  only 
as  working  an  injury  to  us,  but  as  presenting  to  the 
world  a  spectacle  ill  calculated  to  make  an  impression 
favorable  to  Christianity."22 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  cases  of  military  in- 
terference with  ministers  and  Churches  during  the  war 
took  place  in  connection  with  a  certain  Dr.  Samuel  B. 
MePheeters,  a  minister  of  an  important  Presbyterian 
Church  in  St.  Louis.  This  case  has  no  bearing,  itself, 
upon  the  mission  work  of  the  Churches  in  the  South, 
except  that  it  is  in  connection  with  this  case  that  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  attitude  toward  military  interference 
with  Churches  is  most  clearly  brought  out.23 

On  December  19,  1862,  Major  General  Curtis,  com- 
manding the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  issued  an  or- 
der deposing  MePheeters  from  his  pulpit  and  ordered 
him  and  his  wife  to  leave  the  State  within  ten  days. 
The  order  is  prefaced  with  the  statement  that  MePhee- 
ters has  refused  to  declare  his  loyalty  to  the  Government, 
had  given  the  impression  that  he  desired  the  success 
of  the  rebel  armies,  that  the  influence  of  his  ministerial 
position  had  greatly  encouraged  the  enemies  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, that  he  had  exerted  an  injurious  influence  upon 
the  young,  and  that  his  wife  had  openly  avowed  herself 
a  rebel;  so  for  these  reasons,  the  order  states,  both  Me- 
Pheeters and  his  wife  had  forfeited  the  protection  and 

"Annual  Cyclopaedia,  1865,  p.  620. 

23  All  the  correspondence  relating  to  this  famous  case  is  found 
in  McPherson's  1 1  Kebellion, ' '  pp.  533-537. 

104 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 


favor  of  the  Government.  The  order  also  states  that 
the  church  edifice,  books  and  papers,  are  to  be  turned 
over  to  the  loyal  members  of  the  Church,  who  are  named, 
who  shall  secure  a  loyal  minister  to  fill  the  pulpit.24 

This  order  of  General  Curtis  led  to  a  long  discussion 
between  the  various  parties  concerned,  which  covered 
more  than  a  year,  and  included,  besides  General  Curtis 
and  McPheeters,  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States,  the  Governor  of  Missouri,  and  the  President  of 
the  United  States. 

On  December  23d,  McPheeters  wrote  a  long  letter 
to  Hon.  Edward  Bates,  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States.25  As  a  result  of  this  letter  the  first  order  of 
General  Curtis  is  modified  so  as  not  to  require  McPhee- 
ters and  his  wife  to  leave  the  State.  In  January,  1863, 
President  Lincoln,  writing  to  General  Curtis  concerning 
the  case,  after  having  had  an  interview  with  McPheeters, 
stated:  "Now,  after  talking  with  him  (McPheeters), 
I  tell  you  frankly,  I  believe  he  does  sympathize  with 
the  rebels;  but  the  question  remains  whether  such  a 
man  of  unquestioned  good  character,  who  has  taken  such 
an  oath  as  he  has  .  .  .  can  with  safety  to  this  Gov- 
ernment be  exiled  upon  the  suspicion  of  his  secret  sym- 
pathies .  .  .  But  I  add  that  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment must  not,  as  by  this  order,  undertake  to  run  the 
Churches.  When  an  individual,  in  a  Church  or  out  of 
it,  becomes  dangerous  to  the  public,  he  must  be  checked ; 
but  let  the  Churches,  as  such,  take  care  of  themselves. 
It  will  not  do  for  the  United  States  to  appoint  Trustees, 
Supervisors,  or  other  agents  for  the  Churches."26 

Later  in  the  year  (1863)  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  to  some 
of  McPheeters 's  friends,  who  had  requested  him  to  re- 
store McPheeters  to  his  ecclesiastical  privileges:  "I  have 
never  interfered,  nor  thought  of  interfering  as  to  who 
shall  or  who  shall  not  preach  in  any  Church,  nor  have 

24  McPherson,  p.  533.  25  Ibid. 

"Ibid,  p.  534. 

105 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


I  knowingly  or  believingly  tolerated  any  one  else  to  so 
interfere  by  my  authority."27 

After  this  very  plain  statement  of  his  position  in  this 
matter  of  military  interference  with  the  Churches,  we 
may  imagine  the  feelings  of  the  President  when  he 
learned  of  the  order  of  the  War  Department,  dated 
November  30,  1863,  noted  above,  giving  the  military 
commanders  the  right  to  seize  churches  and  turn  them 
over  to  loyal  agents  of  Northern  societies.  His  attention 
was  called  to  this  order  by  a  certain  Rev.  John  Hogan, 
claiming  to  represent  the  loyal  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  Missouri,  who  wrote 
to  the  President,  bitterly  complaining  of  this  order.  On 
Mr.  Lincoln's  receipt  of  this  letter  he  wrote  a  note  to 
Secretary  Stanton,  in  which  he  says:  "After  having 
made  these  declarations28  in  good  faith  and  in  writing, 
you  can  conceive  of  my  embarrassment  at  now  having 
brought  to  me  what  purports  to  be  a  formal  order  of 
the  War  Department,  bearing  date  November  30,  1863, 
giving  Bishop  Ames  control  and  possession  of  all  the 
Methodist  Churches  in  certain  Southern  military  depart- 
ments where  pastors  have  not  been  appointed  by  a  loyal 
bishop  or  bishops  .  .  .  and  ordering  the  military  to 
aid  him  against  any  resistance  which  may  be  made  to 
his  taking  such  possession  and  control.  What  is  to  be 
done  about  it?"29 

In  response  to  this  vigorous  letter  of  the  President, 
the  Secretary  of  War  directed  that  an  explanatory  order 
be  issued,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  the  order  of  No- 
vember 30,  1863,  was  designed  to  apply  to  those  States 
as  are  in  rebellion,  and  is  not  designed  to  operate  in 
loyal  States,  "nor  in  cases  where  loyal  congregations 
in  rebel  States  shall  be  organized  and  worship  upon  the 

"McPherson,  p.  536. 

28  Declarations,  cited  above,  made  in  reference  to  the  McPhee- 
ters'  case. 

29  McPherson,  p.  522,  note. 

106 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 


terms  of  the  President's  amnesty."30  On  the  same  day 
that  this  explanatory  order  was  issued,  Mr.  Lincoln  sent 
a  note  with  the  above  order  to  Rev.  John  Hogan,  in 
which  he  states:  "As  you  see  within,  the  secretary  modi- 
fies his  order  so  as  to  exempt  Missouri  from  it.  Ken- 
tucky never  was  within  it,  nor,  as  I  learn  from  the  sec- 
retary, was  it  ever  intended  for  any  more  than  a  means 
of  rallying  the  Methodist  people  in  favor  of  the  Union 
in  localities  where  the  rebellion  had  disorganized  and 
scattered  them.  Even  in  that  view  I  fear  it  is  liable  to 
some  abuses,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  withdraw  it  entirely 
and  at  once."31 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  certainly  never  in  favor  of  this  plan 
of  military  interference  with  the  Churches,  as  his  words 
very  clearly  indicate;  and,  doubtless,  if  he  had  discov- 
ered the  order  of  November  30,  1863,  sooner  it  would 
have  been  withdrawn  "entirely  and  at  once."  On 
March  4,  1864,  he  wrote  to  the  Union  commander  at 
Memphis  regarding  some  interference  by  the  military 
with  a  Church  there :  "  If  the  military  have  need  of  the 
church  building,  let  them  keep  it,  otherwise  let  them 
get  out  of  it,  and  leave  it  and  its  owners  alone,  except 
for  causes  that  justify  the  arrest  of  any  one."  Two 
months  later,  May  13,  1864,  the  President  wrote  again 
to  this  same  commanding  officer:  "I  am  now  told  that 
the  military  were  not  in  possession  of  the  building,  and 
yet,  in  pretended  execution  of  the  above,  they,  the  mili- 
tary, put  one  set  of  men  out  of  and  another  set  of  men 
into  the  building.  This,  if  true,  is  most  extraordinary. 
I  say  again,  if  there  be  no  military  need  of  the  build- 
ing, leave  it  alone,  neither  putting  any  one  in  or  out 
of  it,  except  on  finding  some  one  preaching  or  practicing 
treason,  in  which  case  lay  hands  on  him,  just  as  if 
he  were  doing  the  same  thing  in  any  other  building, 
or  in  the  street  or  highways."32    These  vigorous  words 

30  Ibid.  31McPherson,  p.  522,  note. 

32  "Abraham  Lincoln,"  Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  vi,  p.  338. 

107 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


of  Mr.  Lincoln  very  clearly  indicate  how  much  his  pa- 
tience was  taxed  over  these  petty  Church  squabbles. 

The  activity  of  the  Northern  Churches  in  seeking  an 
entrance  into  the  South  during  the  progress  of  the  war 
aroused  also  considerable  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
Border  State  congressmen.  On  March  31,  1864,  Senator 
Powell  of  Kentucky  introduced  a  resolution  directing  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  turn  over  to  the  Senate  all  orders 
issued  to  military  commanders  pertaining  to  Church 
properties,  and  that  he  also  inform  the  Senate  how 
many  Churches  have  been  affected  by  this  order.33  This 
resolution  was  laid  on  the  table — 27  yeas  to  11  nays — the 
senators  from  the  Border  States  voting  in  the  negative. 
In  July,  Mr.  Powell  introduced  a  bill  making  it  a  mis- 
demeanor with  punishment  on  conviction  of  a  fine  not 
exceeding  $10,000  and  imprisonment  for  not  more  than 
ten  years,  and  disqualification  from  holding  any  offices 
under  the  Government  of  the  United  States  for  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  or  any  military  commander  to  interfere 
in  any  way  with  Churches  or  the  conduct  of  public  wor- 
ship. This  bill  never  got  past  the  committee,  but  it 
serves  to  show  the  bitter  feeling  which  this  activity  of 
the  Northern  Churches  aroused.34 

Perhaps  one  of  the  best  known  of  these  Northern 
missionaries  who  went  into  the  South  during  the  war 
was  Dr.  John  P.  Newman,  afterwards  a  bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  pastor  and  per- 
sonal friend  of  President  Grant.  He  was  sent  to  New 
Orleans  in  the  spring  of  1864  to  take  charge  of  the 
Methodist  work  there,  and  according  to  the  Church  pa- 
pers he  seems  to  have  had  considerable  success.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  in  New  Orleans  he  delivered  an  ad- 
dress in  which  he  attempted  to  justify  his  presence 
there  and  the  work  which  he  came  to  do.  He  said :  "We 
are  denounced  as  Church  robbers,  are  charged  with 
having  robbed  the  people  of  the  South  of  their  Church 


McPherson,  p.  543.  84  Ibid. 

108 


Methodist  Missions  in  the  South  During  War. 


properties.  My  answer  is:  The  right  of  Church  prop- 
erty has  never  been  disturbed,  as  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned. The  General  Government  has  seen  fit  to  seize 
these  churches,  but  it  has  not  conveyed  their  title  to  us. 
There  has  been  no  passing  of  deeds.  We  do  not  own 
an  inch,  either  of  this  or  any  other  Church  in  the  South. 
...  If  there  has  been  any  robbing,  the  accusation  lies 
against  the  General  Government.  But  the  Government 
has  committed  no  robbery.  It  was  aware  that  these 
churches  were  occupied  (so  far  as  they  were  occupied 
at  all)  by  congregations  united  by  disloyal  sympathies 
and  by  teachers  disposed  to  inculcate  treason."35 

Another  writer  of  the  period,  representing  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  defends  this  action  of  the  Northern 
Churches  in  these  words:  "The  Church  looked  at  the 
simple  facts  that  many  Southern  pulpits  were  vacant 
and  that  others  would  become  so,  as  our  armies  should 
advance,  that  Southern  ministers  had  abandoned,  or 
had  been  driven  from  their  positions,  and  that  the  Gov- 
ernment would  not  allow  any  but  loyal  men  to  fill  their 
places.  .  .  .  The  Gospel,  therefore,  would  not  be 
preached  at  all  to  multitudes  of  people  .  .  .  unless 
the  Government  should  open  the  way.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances was  the  Church  doing  wrong  or  right  in 
asking  the  sanction  of  the  Government,  .  .  .  obtaining 
a  'permit,' — for  it  was  not  more  than  that, — and  just 
what  is  sometimes  done  on  heathen  ground,  ...  to 
'go  into  all  the  South  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature?'  "36 

The  argument  that  it  would  strengthen  the  Union 
cause  to  have  a  loyal  ministry  and  a  loyal  Church  in 
the  South  was  used  frequently  at  this  time.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  these  Northern  missionaries  who 
went  into  the  South  did  succeed  in  gathering  around 
them  a  few  loyal  hearers,  but  as  a  rule  they  were  not 

35McPherson,  pp.  523,  524. 

36  "The  Church  and  the  Eebellion, 1 >  Stanton,  pp.  338-340. 
109 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


influential  to  any  appreciable  extent  in  building  up  any 
considerable  Union  sentiment  in  the  South.  They  did, 
however,  serve  to  increase  the  bitterness  of  the  strife 
and  placed  another  barrier  in  the  way  of  union  between 
the  Churches  North  and  South.  And  one  is  led  to  ex- 
press the  opinion  that  the  zeal  that  was  manifested  by 
the  Northern  Churches  in  forcing  themselves  into  the 
South  in  the  manner  and  at  the  time  they  did,  was  not 
entirely  holy  and  unselfish,  and  was  ill  calculated  to  fur- 
ther either  the  cause  of  the  Union  or  religion.37 

37  For  a  brief  statement  of  the  work  in  the  South  by  the  North- 
ern Churches,  see  Nicolay  and  Hay's  "Lincoln,"  vol.  vi,  pp. 

333-338. 


110 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 

Among  the  Church  agencies  which  made  for  patri- 
otism and  loyalty  during  the  progress  of  the  war  none 
were  more  influential  and  far-reaching  than  the  Church 
periodicals. 

In  1860  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  pub- 
lishing perodicals,  to  the  number  of  twenty-two,  in  every 
section  of  the  North,  the  total  subscriptions  of  the  vari- 
ous official  publications  numbering  at  least  400,00c1 
Besides  the  official  journals  there  were  a  number  of  in- 
dependent Methodist  publications,  some  of  which  rivaled 

1  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  official  publications  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  with  numbers  of  subscribers  for  1860  and 
1864  (Journal  of  the  General  Conference,  1860,  pp.  332-358,  397- 
405;  Journal  of  the  General  Conference,  1864,  pp.  341,  345): 


I860  1864 

Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  New  York   29,000  26,500 

The  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Cincinnati....   31,000  33,787 

Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  Chicago   13,300  25,000 

Central  Christian  Advocate,  St.  Louis   8,016  8,204 

Pittsburgh  Christian  Advocate,  Pittsburgh   8,367   

Northern  Christian  Advocate,  Auburn,  N.  Y  

Pacific  Christian  Advocate,  Portland,  Ore   1,750   

California  Christian  Advocate  

The  Christian  Apologist  (German)  Cincinnati...     9,166  20,000 

The  Methodist  Quarterly  Review,  New  York   4,250  1,008 

The  Ladies'  Repository,  Cincinnati   41,600  33,500 

Missionary  Advocate,  New  York   12,700  22,862 

Sunday  School  Advocate,  New  York   208,000  229,225 

Sunday  School  Bell,  Cincinnati   12,000  13,273 

Good  News,  Cincinnati  

SonntagsglocJce  (German),  Cincinnati  


Besides  these  official  publications  there  were  a  number  of  inde- 
pendent Methodist  journals,  some  of  which  were  extremely  influen- 
tial. They  were:  Zion's  Herald  and  Wesley  an  Journal,  Boston; 
The  Methodist  (begun  1861),  New  York.  Other  independent  jour- 
nals published  in  Montpelier,  Vt.;  Rockford,  111.;  and  Baltimore. 

Ill 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


in  importance  and  influence  the  best  of  the  official  peri- 
odicals. 

The  Methodist  weekly  journals  which  had  the  largest 
circulation  and  exercised  the  most  influence  during  the 
war  were  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  of  New 
York;  the  Western  Christian  Advocate,  of  Cincinnati; 
the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  of  Chicago;  the 
Central  Christian  Advocate,  of  St.  Louis — though  hav- 
ing a  small  subscription,  was  important  because  of  its 
location — and  the  independent  journal  Zion's  Herald, 
of  Boston.  These  are  the  periodicals  which  will  occupy 
the  most  of  our  attention  in  the  course  of  this  chapter. 

The  General  Conference  of  1860  had  elected  new 
editors  for  several  of  the  above  named  papers.  Before 
1856  most  of  the  Church  periodicals — the  Northwestern 
and  Northern  Christian  Advocates  and  Zion's  Herald 
excepted — had  been  cautious  and  conservative  on  the 
slavery  question.  The  Neiv  York  and  Central  Advocates 
had  opposed  any  change  of  the  rule  on  slavery  previous 
to  the  General  Conference  of  1856,  but  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1860  elected  strong  anti-slavery  editors  for 
both  these  journals,  and  with  the  new  editorial  adminis- 
tration a  more  vigorous  attitude  was  taken,  especially 
by  the  New  York  Advocate,  not  only  on  the  slavery 
issue,  but  also  on  all  other  questions  agitating  the  Church 
and  the  Nation. 

All  of  the  official  Church  publications,  when  the 
war  broke  out,  became  strong  advocates  of  the  adminis- 
tration, firm  supporters  of  the  Government,  and  stood 
invariably  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  It 
is  true  that  on  many  questions  the  Church  journals  took 
extreme  radical  positions.  Especially  was  this  the  case 
in  regard  to  immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  which 
was  urged  from  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war.  All  the 
Church  papers  supported  General  Fremont  in  his  pre- 
mature proclamation,  which  he  issued  August  30,  1861, 
emancipating  the  slaves  in  his  military  district.  "No 

112 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War, 


public  document,"  says  the  Northwestern  Christian  Ad- 
vocate, "issued  since  the  commencement  of  the  present 
war  has  struck  upon  the  heart  like  the  proclamation  of 
Major  General  John  Charles  Fremont.  .  .  .  The  gen- 
eral is  right.  The  administration  may  not  sustain  him, 
but  the  people  will. '  '2  Again,  commenting  on  an  article 
upon  the  same  subject  by  the  editor  of  the  Western,  the 
same  journal  says:  "The  editor  of  the  Western  speaks 
in  decided  terms  of  censure  of  the  manifest  attempt  to 
hedge  up  the  way  and  to  embarrass  the  action  of  Gen- 
eral Fremont,  and  regrets  that  '  some  high  in  authority 
and  in  favor  with  the  administration  have  shown  so 
determined  a  spirit  to  hunt  him  down.'  In  this  the 
Western  but  echoes  the  views  of  the  great  Northwest. 
Never  had  a  brave  man  such  difficulties  thrown  in  his 
path  as  Fremont  .  .  .  yet  he  has  held  his  way.  .  .  . 
The  people  are  incensed."3 

General  Benjamin  F.  Butler  also  found  favor  with 
the  Church  periodicals  because  of  his  method  of  dealing 
with  the  slaves — classing  them  as  contraband  of  war, 
and  putting  them  to  work — and  his  name  was  often 
coupled  with  Fremont's  in  the  Church  journals,  and 
unstinted  praise  was  dealt  out  to  both.  One  writer  says : 
"We  ask — imploringly  ask — that  the  Government  will 
confiscate  and  emancipate  the  slaves  of  rebels  as  fast 
as  our  armies  get  to  them.  We  hail  the  sentiments  of 
Butler  and  Fremont  as  the  day  star  to  our  Nation."4 
It  is  one  of  the  ironies  of  history  that  these  two  generals, 
Fremont  and  Butler,  probably  the  two  most  corrupt 
commanders  of  high  rank  in  the  Union  army  during 
the  war,  should  have  received  such  high  praise  at  the 
hands  of  religious  journals  of  the  North.5 

2  The  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  Sept.  11,  1861. 

3  Ibid,  Oct.  23,  1861. 

4  Northwestern,  Oct.  16,  1861. 

5  For  an  impartial  estimate  of  these  two  men  see  for  Fremont, 
Ehodes,  vol.  iii,  pp.  468-482;  for  Butler,  Rhodes,  vol.  v,  pp.  303- 
310,  312,  313. 

8  113 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Of  all  these  journals  mentioned  only  one  proved  at 
all  disloyal,  and  that  one  was  the  Baltimore  Christian 
Advocate;  and  this  paper  soon  after  the  war  began 
suspended  publication,  owing  to  the  fact  that  its  former 
patrons  and  subscribers  refused  longer  to  support  it  in 
its  disloyal  course.6 

The  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal  in  many  of  its 
issues  was  devoted  largely  to  war  news.  Letters  from 
chaplains  and  soldiers  appeared  in  almost  every  issue 
during  the  war,  and  in  its  columns  appeals  from  the 
various  societies,  such  as  the  Christian  Commission,  were 
willingly  published.  From  the  beginning  of  Lincoln's 
administration  the  editor  placed  his  journal  on  record 
as  a  supporter  of  it.  In  an  editorial  published  in  the 
issue  a  week  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  inauguration,  the 
editor  says:  "The  incoming  Executive  will  have  of 
necessity  a  difficult  task  to  perform.  Called  to  the  head 
of  the  Nation  at  the  most  critical  time  in  our  history, 
confronted  at  once  by  a  most  extraordinary  state  of 
affairs,  such  as  none  of  his  predecessors  has  had  to 
contend  with,  and  having  no  precedents  or  lights  to 
guide  him  in  the  perilous  path  of  duty;  embarrassed 
by  the  most  complicated  difficulties  and  beset  on  every 
hand  by  dangers  the  most  imminent,  with  but  limited 
experience  in  public  life  and  thousands  anxious  to  de- 
feat every  well-meant  effort  he  shall  make  to  adjust  the 
measures  of  his  administration  to  the  state  of  things 
existing,  he  is  justly  entitled  to  the  sympathy  and  sup- 
port of  every  friend  of  the  Union.  .  .  .  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  men  may  perhaps  be  excused  for  nursing 
their  opposition  and  hostility  to  a  political  opponent. 
.  .  .  But  here  is  a  totally  changed  condition  of  things. ' ' 
The  editor  closes  with  the  sentence,  "He  who  loves  his 
party  better  than  his  country  is  a  traitor."7  Comment- 

6 Ladies'  Repository,  July,  1861,  p.  446;  The  Methodist,  Jan. 
12,  1861. 

''Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  March  7,  1861. 

114 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


ing  on  the  inaugural  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  the  next  issue, 
the  editor  says  in  part:  "It  is  therefore  in  no  spirit 
of  partisanship  that  we  congratulate  the  whole  country 
on  the  successful  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  .  .  . 
The  utterances  of  the  inaugural  address  must  satisfy  all 
who  are  not  perversely  determined  not  to  be  satisfied, 
and  inspires  the  real  friends  of  the  country  with  new 
hopes."8 

After  the  defeat  of  Bull  Run  the  editor  showed  his 
good  sense  and  farsightedness  by  stating:  "The  defeat 
we  have  suffered  may  be  of  great  service.  We  need 
more  efficiency  and  ability  in  some  departments  of  the 
Government  and  more  unselfish  patriotism  in  all.  .  .  . 
We  must  awake  to  the  magnitude  of  the  contest  in 
which  we  are  engaged."9 

Early  in  1863,  during  that  period  which  is  known  as 
the  darkest  period  of  the  war,  when  there  was  consider- 
able talk  of  bringing  the  war  to  an  end,  an  editorial  on 
"Shall  Our  War  Cease?"  appeared  in  the  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal.  In  this  editorial  the  editor  be- 
gins by  stating  that  the  war  is  justifiable  because  it  is 
for  the  defense  of  civil  government.  He  then  says  "the 
war  must  be  prosecuted,"  and  the  editorial  closes  with 
the  sentence,  ' '  If  with  vacillation  in  the  Cabinet,  treach- 
ery in  the  army,  and  jealousy  in  politics  we  have  done 
so  much,  can  we  not  complete  the  work  when  the  powers 
of  the  Nation  shall  be  fully  aroused  and  united  and 
concentrated  by  a  sense  of  necessity?"10  Again,  on 
February  26,  1863,  is  an  editorial  on  the  "Sin  of  Trea- 
son," in  which  it  is  stated:  "It  is  a  solemn  duty  to 
preach  against  treason.  .  .  .  It  is  a  sin  of  the  deepest 
and  most  aggravated  nature.  The  life  of  an  individual 
is  of  unspeakable  value,  the  life  of  a  nation  still  more 
so."   Also  in  the  next  issue  appears  another  ably  writ- 

8  Christian  Advocate,  March  14,  1861. 

9  Ibid,  Aug.  15,  1861. 

10  Ibid,  Feb.  19,  1863. 

115 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


ten  editorial  on  "Respect  for  Government,11  and  in  the 
issue  following  an  editorial  on  "The  Pulpit  and  Re- 
ligious Press."  The  editor  begins  by  asking,  "In  such 
a  crisis  as  this,  what  is  the  duty  of  the  pulpit  and  the 
religious  press?"  He  then  answers  the  question  by 
stating :  ' 1  They  will  lamentably  fail  before  God  and 
humanity  if  they  do  not  employ  all  their  powers  in 
arousing  the  National  heart  and  conscience  to  an  un- 
derstanding and  recognition  of  God,  of  justice,  of  prin- 
ciples as  related  to  the  National  life.  They  should  bring 
the  American  people  to  an  earnest  and  active  appreci- 
ation of  its  true  character  and  grandeur  of  our  strug- 
gle."12 

Enough  has  been  given  to  show  the  general  attitude 
of  this  journal  on  National  questions.  It  maintained  a 
consistent  patriotic  position  throughout  the  war.  It 
was  seldom  critical  of  the  administration,  though  it 
sometimes  advocated  radical  measures,  especially  in  ref- 
erence to  emancipation,  and  later  in  reference  to  the 
freedmen. 

This  paper  had  a  large  circulation  in  Eastern  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  and  throughout  New  Jersey,  the 
largest  except  one  of  any  Methodist  journal  of  this  pe- 
riod. It  was  at  that  time,  as  it  is  still,  the  most  im- 
portant weekly  paper  in  the  denomination.  Just  before 
the  war  the  independent  journal  The  Methodist  was  es- 
tablished, largely  in  opposition  to  the  Christian  Advo- 
cate and  Journal,  and  it  also  had  a  considerable  circu- 
lation throughout  this  same  territory.13  The  Methodist 
was  considered  by  some  to  be  lacking  in  patriotism,  and 
was  classed,  in  one  instance  at  least,  with  papers  of 

11  Ibid,  March  5,  1863.  12  Ibid,  March  12,  1863. 

13 " Life  of  Edward  Thomson/'  by  Thomson,  pp.  145-152. 
This  writer  states  that  the  Methodist  was  started  to  oppose  the 
Christian  Advocate  in  its  radical  position  on  the  slavery  issue,  but 
the  war  coming  on  soon  after  its  establishment,  its  editors  very 
wisely  dropped  the  slavery  issue,  became  a  supporter  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  took  up  Lay  Eepresentation  in  the  General  Conference  as 
its  chief  Church  issue. 


116 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


doubtful  loyalty,14  but  any  impartial  investigation  of 
its  columns  would  find  little  to  warrant  such  a  classi- 
fication. It  was  more  conservative  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion than  its  official  rival,  the  Advocate  and  Journal, 
but  not  less  loyal. 

The  Western  Christian  Advocate,  published  in  Cin- 
cinnati, was  considerably  more  outspoken  in  its  patri- 
otism than  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal.  Its 
editor,  Dr.  Charles  Kingsley  (to  May,  1864),  was  more 
of  the  belligerent  type  than  Dr.  Thomson,  and  many 
of  his  articles  and  editorials  are  of  the  "fire-eating" 
kind.  On  April  24,  1861,  the  Western  Christian  Advo- 
cate editorially  stated:  "The  state  of  the  country  ab- 
sorbs all  other  topics  at  present.  People  talk  nothing 
else,  read  nothing  else,  think  nothing  else;  so,  yielding 
to  the  universal  demand,  we  devote  a  large  share  of  our 
paper  to  such  information  as  the  people  demand."15 
In  this  same  issue  is  another  editorial,  headed  "The 
Union  Forever,"  and  still  another,  addressed  to  the 
farmers,  in  which  they  are  urged  "to  plant  largely" 
.  .  .  "raise  all  you  can,"  and  "save  all  you  raise," 
so  that^the  country  may  not  be  short  of  provisions  to 
care  for  the  increasing  army.  Commenting  on  the  Bat- 
tle of  Bull  Run  in  one  of  the  July  numbers,16  the  editor 
lays  the  blame  of  the  Union  defeat  to  the  fact  that 
the  battle  was  fought  on  Sunday.  He  bases  his  argu- 
ment on  the  fact  that  the  soldiers  were  tired  out  and 
needed  Sunday  for  rest;  that  if  they  had  waited  until 
Monday,  the  presence  of  General  Johnston's  forces 
would  have  been  found  out;  and  also,  if  it  had  not 
been  Sunday,  "those  congressmen  and  their  wives  who 
went  out  to  see  the  show  would  have  been  home,  where 
they  ought  to  have  stayed/'  and  so  would  not  have 
added  to  the  general  panic. 

14  Central  Christian  Advocate,  Dec.  25,  1862. 

15  Western  Christian  Advocate,  April  24,  1861. 

16  Ibid,  July  31,  1861. 

117 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


In  August,  1861,17  the  editor  heads  an  editorial,  4 'En- 
listments and  Re-enlistments,"  in  which  he  shows  the 
advantages  of  the  three-months'  men  re-enlisting,  and 
ends  the  editorial  with,  "We  recommend  to  able-bodied 
and  patriotic  young  men  everywhere,  where  circum- 
stances will  allow  it,  to  enlist  rapidly  till  half  a  million 
are  thus  enrolled."  Again  the  editor  says,  through  the 
columns  of  his  paper:  "We  say,  let  the  war  be  pushed 
with  all  possible  vigor  .  .  .  700,000  men  should  be 
in  the  field  within  a  month,  and  another  500,000  should 
be  preparing.  .  .  .  Had  we  a  son  of  sufficient  age,  we 
should  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  send  him  to  the  field 
of  battle  in  such  a  cause;  indeed,  we  should  urge  him 
to  go  at  his  country's  call,  and  should  he  fall  in  de- 
fending his  country's  flag,  we  should  feel  that  he  never 
would  find  a  better  time  to  die."18 

At  the  session  of  the  Ohio  Conference  in  the  fall  of 
1861,  Dr.  Kingsley  spoke  before  that  body,  defending 
his  course  in  giving  so  much  space  in  his  paper  to  the 
cause  and  service  of  patriotism,  and  at  the  various  ses- 
sions of  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  Conferences  the  paper 
received  their  indorsement.  In  1862  the  Cincinnati 
Conference  stated  in  a  series  of  resolutions,  "As  a  Con- 
ference we  feel  increasing  confidence  in  the  prudence, 
sagacity,  earnestness,  and  fearlessness  of  Dr.  Kingsley  in 
these  times  of  great  ecclesiastical  and  political  trials, 
and  would  hereby  fully  indorse  the  course  of  this  worthy 
patriot."19 

In  the  issue  of  October  16,  1861,  is  an  editorial  ap- 
peal to  all  Methodist  people  to  help  the  Government 
supply  the  soldiers  with  blankets,  "If  you  have  no 
blanket  or  blankets  you  can  spare,  send  along  a  quilt 
or  a  half  dozen  of  them." 

As  has  previously  been  stated,  the  Church  has  made 

"Ibid,  Aug.  7,  1861.  w Ibid,  July  31,  1861. 

"Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1862,  p.  11;  also  1863,  p.  25; 
1861,  pp.  13,  14. 

118 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


a  hero  out  of  Fremont,  and  on  his  removal  from  com- 
mand of  the  Western  army  in  the  fall  of  1861,  the 
administration  was  severely  criticised  by  the  Church 
press.  The  Western  Christian  Advocate  had  to  say  of 
it,  "Unless  there  are  reasons  for  this  step  which  the 
public  has  not  yet  understood,  it  (the  removal  of  Fre- 
mont) will  be  set  down  as  the  chief  of  a  pretty  exten- 
sive catalogue  of  blunders. '  '20  In  another  column  of  that 
same  issue  is  another  editorial,  addressed  to  the  West 
and  the  Northwest,  in  which  the  editor  states,  although 
condemning  the  removal  of  Fremont,  yet  he  would  by 
no  means  advocate  insubordination  to  the  Government, 
and  he  would  advise  the  people  of  the  great  West  and 
Northwest  to  stand  by  the  Government,  even  though 
they  may  be  disappointed  at  some  of  its  actions.  He 
further  states  that  this  editorial  has  been  induced  from 
certain  statements  made  by  Western  letter  writers,  say- 
ing that  the  people  would  not  submit  to  Fremont's  re- 
moval. 

The  issue  of  December  11,  1861,  contains  an  appeal 
to  the  subscribers  to  renew  the  paper,  in  the  course  of 
which  it  is  stated:  "A  few — thank  God!  the  number 
is  small  indeed — will  discontinue  the  paper  because  it 
has  insisted  from  the  beginning  that  the  Union  must 
be  preserved  at  all  hazards.  We  can  well  afford  to 
spare  the  names  of  all  such  persons.  A  man  who  can 
any  longer  doubt  the  propriety  of  standing  firmly  by 
the  country  is  not  fit  to  live  in  it,  and  ought  to  leave 
his  country  for  his  country's  good."  .  .  . 

The  editor  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  had 
no  use  for  any  paper  or  person  that  would  not  sup- 
port the  Government.  Several  times  he  takes  up  arms 
against  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer.  In  the  December  24th 
issue,21  concerning  this  paper  he  says:  "It  is  but  occa- 
sionally that  we  pay  any  attention  to  the  attacks  of  the 
Cincinnati  Enquirer.    As  a  general  rule  it  is  safe  to 

20  Western,  Nov.  13,  1861.  21  Dec.  24,  1861. 

119 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


pursue  the  course  which  the  Enquirer  condemns.  .  .  . 
The  great  offense  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Enquirer  is  that  it  has  always  been, 
and  always  expects  to  be,  devoted  unconditionally  to 
the  preservation  of  the  Union. ' '  The  New  York  Herald 
comes  in  for  condemnation  also,  at  the  hands  of  this 
doughty  preacher-editor,  for  its  lack  of  support  of  the 
Government.  He  states:  "The  business  of  the  hour 
is  the  saving  of  the  country,  not  the  stirring  up  of  dis- 
cord among  ourselves;  and  the  man  who  stops  to  howl, 
while  others  are  trying  to  work,  is,  if  anything,  only  a 
wolf  of  a  patriot."  "He  is  simply  wishing  to  fix  his 
fangs  on  the  vitals  and  fatten  on  the  spoils  that-  may 
come  to  him  of  a  ruined  country."22  The  Chicago  Times 
and  the  Philadelphia  Sunday  Mercury  are  also  con- 
demned for  the  same  reason  and  in  the  same  vigorous 
manner.23 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Government  during  these 
troublesome  times  had  a  more  loyal  supporter  than  the 
Western  Christian  Advocate  and  its  editor.  Its  patron- 
izing territory  included  Southern  Indiana  and  Ohio, 
where  a  considerable  opposition  party  had  developed,  and 
where  the  secret  societies  opposed  to  the  war  were  the 
most  vigorous.  The  "Copperhead"  element  was  per- 
haps strongest  in  this  region,  and  the  stanch  patriotic 
attitude  of  this  paper  doubtless  had  considerable  influ- 
ence in  keeping  the  Methodist  people  loyal. 

We  close  these  comments  on  this  paper  by  quoting  in 
full  an  especially  vigorous  and  eloquent  editorial  en- 
titled "Attention!  Young  Men,"  which  is  a  call  to 
young  men  to  enlist:  "The  index  finger  on  the  great 
dial-plate  that  counts  and  reveals  the  movement  of  ages, 
to-day  points  to  the  hour  in  which  your  Nation's  doom 
for  the  next  thousand  years  is  cast;  and  it  is  for  you, 
young  man,  to  say  what  that  doom  shall  be.  Shall  it 
be  Union,  Peace,  Brotherhood,  Liberty,  Freedom,  and 
22  Western,  July  16,  1862.  23  Ibid,  Jan.  7,  1863. 

120 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


equalizing,  humanizing  Christianity?  Or  shall  it  be 
disunion,  war,  selfishness,  slavery,  and  a  besotted,  bar- 
barous, brutalizing,  bastard  corruption  and  perversion 
of  our  holy  religion?  You,  young  man,  must  decide  it. 
...  Do  you  ask  what  you  can  do  ?  The  very  question 
is  an  implied  disgrace,  either  to  your  manhood  or  to 
your  intelligence.  When  your  Government  is  nearly 
throttled  by  treason,  and  calling  for  strong  hands  to 
strike  down  the  traitors,  you  wait,  lazily — to  sell  tape 
and  pins,  or  retail  billet  paper  and  quills,  or  make  en- 
tries in  business  account-books,  or  show  bonnets  and  rib- 
bons to  sauntering  damsels !  .  .  .  Will  you  leave  your 
country  in  the  hour  of  her  peril  to  be  defended  by 
strangers,  or  to  fall,  and  crush  you  in  her  fall?  While 
you  might  be  heroes  such  as  earth's  history  has  never 
yet  shown,  will  you  stand  behind  counters,  or  sit  in 
offices  and  nurse  your  inefficient  hands,  or  wait  for  trade 
and  gossip  ?  Is  this  the  destiny  for  which  your  mothers 
bore  you  ?  Is  this  the  duty  for  which  God,  in  His  great 
mercy,  created  you,  and  with  His  boundless  grace  re- 
deemed you?  Is  it  for  this  that  your  country  has  edu- 
cated you?  Shame  on  such  dastardly  good-for-nothing- 
ness ! 

"Come  up  to  the  help  of  your  country!  Enlist  in 
her  armies !  Fill  up  the  numbers  of  that  host  that  shall 
swear  allegiance  to  patriotism  and  duty,  and  that  shall 
tread  treason  and  traitors  under  their  feet  as  they  would 
tread  the  life  out  of  serpents  and  scorpions. 

"Your  country  calls!  Quick,  be  ready!  Come  to 
the  help  of  your  land  against  the  mighty  and  diabolical 
minions  of  treachery  and  rebellion!  One  man  now  en- 
listed is  worth  a  score  in  six  months !  Come  now  to  the 
armies. '  '24 

The  next  periodical  we  will  consider  is  the  Central 
Christian  Advocate,  published  at  St.  Louis.  The  con- 
ditions under  which  this  periodical  was  published  dur- 

-4  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Aug.  6,  1862. 

121 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


ing  the  war  were  considerably  different  than  those  of  the 
New  York  or  Cincinnati  papers.  This  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  published  in  slave  territory,  and  also 
to  the  fact  that  the  number  of  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  its  patronizing  territory  was  very 
small,  the  membership  in  Missouri  being  only  about  six 
thousand.  These  conditions  necessarily  made  the  con- 
ducting of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate  a  very  diffi- 
cult task,  and  for  some  time  during  the  first  months  of 
the  war  it  was  rather  doubtful  whether  it  could  live 
under  these  adverse  conditions. 

Early  in  1861  it  was  stated  that  "the  religious  serv- 
ices of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  are  mostly  sus- 
pended outside  of  St.  Louis,  and  that  the  ministers  were 
temporarily  leaving  the  State."  Indeed,  plans  were 
made  early  in  1861  by  the  Book  Agents  at  Cincinnati 
to  have  "the  books  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate 
and  all  movables  pertaining  to  the  office  brought  to  that 
city,"  and  made  the  proposition  to  divide  the  subscrip- 
tion list  between  the  Western  and  the  Northwestern  Ad- 
vocates. To  this  plan  the  plucky  editor,  who  was  then 
nearly  seventy  years  of  age,  refused  to  agree,  saying 
"he  would  defend  the  books  with  pistols  till  the  last 
moment. ' '  The  editor  had,  however,  made  arrangements 
to  issue  his  paper  from  Alton  or  Springfield,  111.,  if  he 
should  find  St.  Louis  untenable.25 

The  editor  of  the  Central  was  Dr.  Charles  Elliott, 
who  had  been  placed  in  this  position  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1860.  He  had  had  considerable  experi- 
ence in  editorial  work,  having  been  for  twenty-five  years 
connected  with  the  Pittsburgh  Christian  Advocate,  and 
had  also  written  extensively  on  the  anti-slavery  contest 
in  the  Church.  Though  old  in  years,  he  still  had  plenty 
of  the  fire  of  youth  remaining,  and  conducted  his  paper 
in  this  critical  period  and  under  these  peculiarly  diffi- 

25  Central  Christian  Advocate,  May  29,  1861.  Quoted  in  Zion's 
Herald,  June  5,  1861. 

122 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


cult  circumstances  with  skill  and  with  no  semblance  of 
fear. 

To  show  the  attitude  of  this  paper  and  the  spirit 
of  its  editor,  I  quote  the  following.  On  April  17,  1861, 
the  editor  wrote  an  open  letter  to  Hon.  Simon  Cameron, 
Secretary  of  War,  calling  to  his  attention  certain  facts, 
and  offering  some  suggestions  on  the  approaching  crisis 
in  Missouri.20  Among  other  things  he  said:  "We  have 
an  avowed  secessionist  governor,  we  have  a  Legislature 
largely  secessionist,  too.  There  is  a  formidable  military 
organization  (the  Minutemen)  numbering  now  some 
twenty-three  hundred."  He  then  goes  on  to  state  that 
"there  is  no  more  loyal  people  in  the  Union  than  the 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — I  say 
nothing  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South  .  .  . 
and  also  that  Union  men  of  all  denominations  and  poli- 
tics are  ready  to  enroll  themselves  in  a  home  corps." 
The  letter  closes  by  the  editor  introducing  himself  to 
Mr.  Cameron  in  these  words:  "I  am  a  stranger  to  you, 
but  I  will  introduce  myself  and  refer  you  to  my  friends 
Secretary  Chase  and  Comptroller  Whittlesey  for  infor- 
mation. I  am  an  itinerant  preacher  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  .  .  .  I  am  now  in  my  sixty-ninth 
year.  I  will  enroll  myself  in  the  Union  company,  as  I 
want  to  die  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  never  suc- 
cumb to  a  foreign  flag,  especially  the  rebel  palmetto 
one." 

In  this  issue  of  the  Central  a  week  after  the  firing 
on  Sumter27  this  editorial  appeared:  "If  war  must 
come,  let  Christian  men  be  ready  to  sustain  the  authority 
and  power  of  the  United  States  Government.  The  se- 
cessionists have  thrown  to  the  winds  Democracy,  Whig- 
gery,  Americanism,  and  other  distinctions.  Let  the 
Union  men  as  far  as  possible  ignore  technical  Democracy 
and  Republicanism,  and  cling  to  the  National  motto, 

"Central;  Zion's  Herald,  June  19,  1861. 
27  Central,  April  17,  1861. 

123 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


E  Pluribus  Unum,  one  and  indivisible,  now  and  always. 
We  cry  out  to  all  good  citizens  and  Christians  of  every 
name  and  sect,  '  Union !  Union  !  Union ! '  "  Again,  in 
one  of  the  issues  early  in  1862,28  the  editor  states:  "We 
throw  out  the  gospel  flag  to  the  friends  of  the  Union 
and  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  We  do  not 
wish  to  have  a  dollar  from  any  disunionist  until  he  is 
converted. ' ' 

The  whole  Church  in  the  North  was  interested  in 
sustaining  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  and  saw 
the  importance  of  keeping  alive  such  a  journal  in  St. 
Louis.  Appeals  for  the  Central  appeared  at  various 
times  in  the  other  Church  papers,29  and  a  number  of 
Conferences  passed  resolutions  concerning  it,  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  Troy  Conference  being  typical: 

Your  committee  learn  with  sorrow  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ravages  of  civil  war  within  the  bounds 
of  its  patronizing  territory  the  conditions  and  necessities 
of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate  are  such  that  its  life 
is  greatly  imperiled.  We  believe  that  the  discontinu- 
ance of  that  excellent  journal  at  this  time  would  be  a 
calamity  to  the  Nation  as  well  as  to  the  Church.  The 
territory  in  which  it  circulates,  once  wrongfully  wrested 
from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  is  destined  soon 
to  be  restored.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
is  so  fully  identified  with  the  rebellion  that  its  influence 
over  the  lovers  of  our  National  Union  is  doubtless  gone 
forever.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  influence  of 
that  noble  pioneer  Advocate  was  never  more  needed  than 
at  the  present. 

We  commend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved,  That  we  have  watched  with  interest  and 
deep  solicitude  the  course  of  the  Central  Christian  Ad- 
vocate while  battling  manfully  for  God  and  our  country 
in  these  trying  times. 

25  Ibid,  1862;  quoted  in  Christian  Advocate,  Feb.  20,  1862. 

26  Western,  March  12,  1862;  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal, 
Feb.  20,  1862;  ibid,  March  13,  1862. 

124 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


Resolved  (2),  That  Brother  J.  W.  Carhart  be  ap- 
pointed to  solicit  subscriptions  to  the  Central  among  the 
preachers  of  the  Conference.30 

Early  in  1862  the  agents  of  the  Western  Methodist 
Book  Concern,  and  the  several  editors  connected  there- 
with, also  adopted  resolutions  concerning  sustaining  the 
Central  Christian  Advocate,  and  also  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  prepare  an  appeal  for  it  to  be  sent  throughout 
the  Church.31 

The  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  published  in 
Chicago,  also  occupied  a  strategic  position,  being  in  the 
very  center  of  the  great  Northwest,  large  numbers  of 
whose  citizens  became  hostile  to  the  administration  dur- 
ing the  course  of  the  war.  Dr.  T.  M.  Eddy,  the  war 
editor  of  this  journal,  was  a  vigorous  writer,  and  his 
editorials  leave  no  doubt  as  to  his  position  on  public 
questions.  In  the  issue  of  January  2,  1861,  just  after 
President  Buchanan  had  announced  that  the  Executive 
had  no  power  to  coerce  a  State,  he  points  out  the  two 
courses  open  to  the  United  States  Government.  The 
first,  a  stern  refusal  to  permit  secession;  and  the  en- 
forcement of  the  Federal  laws  at  all  hazards.  This 
course,  he  states,  will  probably  lead  to  civil  war.  The 
second  course  is  "to  permit  the  Cotton  States  to  secede 
peaceably,  thus  conceding  the  right  of  States  to  retire 
at  will."  Of  these  two  courses,  the  editor  says,  he  be- 
lieves the  first  is  demanded  "by  the  original  compact, 
by  the  obligation  of  the  Executive,  the  welfare  of  our 
people,  and  the  accomplishment  of  our  National  mission. 
.  .  .  Senators  Douglas  and  Johnson  have  taken  the 
true  position  when  they  declare  it  is  better  to  sacrifice 
a  million  lives  than  to  submit  to  treason,  for  which  se- 
cession is  only  a  synonym."32 

In  another  long  editorial  in  the  fall  of  1861,  on  1 '  The 

30  Troy  Conference  Minutes,  1862,  p.  38. 

31  Adopted  at  Chicago,  Feb.  19,  1862;  Western,  March  5,  1862. 

32  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  Jan.  2,  1861. 

125 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Northwest  and  the  War,"  the  editor  points  out  that 
the  Northwest  is  dependent  upon  keeping  the  Missis- 
sippi open,  so  that  their  products  of  wheat,  corn,  cattle, 
and  hogs  may  find  a  ready  market.  The  question,  he 
says,  is  one  of  life  or  death  for  the  Northwest.  "We 
can  not  afford  a  peace  on  any  terms,  other  than  the 
re-establishment  of  our  National  Union."33  In  this 
same  issue  is  another  editorial,  on  the  "Concessions  of 
Peace,"  in  which  the  editor  answers  the  "men  of  pro- 
slavery  sympathies,"  who  "cry  lustily  against  war  and 
would  have  us  concede  the  claims  of  our  Southern 
brethren."  In  this  article  he  sums  up  the  concessions 
the  North  must  make  if  peace  were  to  be  had.  (1)  All 
laws  forbidding  the  master  to  carry  slaves  across  Free 
States  must  be  abrogated.  (2)  The  right  of  temporary 
residents  with  slaves  must  be  conceded.  (3)  Slavery 
must  be  recognized  as  having  peculiar  sacredness.  (4) 
Slavery  must  be  admitted  into  the  Territories.  (5)  All 
laws  which  interfere  with  the  inalienable  rights  of  the 
sons  of  the  cavaliers  to  "damn  their  own  Niggers"  must 
be  repealed.  (6)  The  Northern  conscience  must  be  cor- 
rected— the  freedom  of  opinion,  the  freedom  of  speech, 
the  freedom  of  discussion  must  cease.  "We  must  not 
think  or  say  or  write  against  slavery."  Then  he  asks: 
"Having  yielded  all  this,  what  have  we  left?  Man- 
hood, government,  religion  all  gone,  and  the  mere  privi- 
lege of  subsistence  by  tolerance?  He  who  can  propose 
peace  at  such  a  surrender  is  only  fit  to  be  the  body 
slave  of  Chestnut  or  Wigfall."34 

Again  says  the  Northwestern:  "We  can  afford  ten 
years  of  war  if  necessary,  we  can  afford  to  give  up  each 
alternate  acre  of  ground  and  each  second  foot  of  town 
property,  we  can  afford  to  give  each  third  man,  but  we 
can  not  afford  to  accept  a  peace  upon  any  other  basis 
than  that  of  the  Union  preserved,  with  equal  rights  for 

33  Northwestern,  Oct.  30,  1861. 
Si  Ibid. 

126 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


all  its  citizens."  Early  in  1861  the  editor  stated  editori- 
ally: "And  now  our  duty  is  clear.  The  Government 
must  be  maintained  at  any  hazard.  Let  party  dissen- 
sions be  forgotten,  and  from  Eastport  to  San  Francisco 
let  there  be  but  one  party;  namely,  that  of  devotion  to 
the  Government,  the  honor  of  our  flag,  and  vindication 
of  right."35 

That  the  policy  of  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advo- 
cate met  the  approval  of  the  Methodist  people  in  the 
Northwest  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  year  1860  closed 
with  13,300  subscribers,  and  by  1864  the  subscription 
list  had  increased  to  25,000.36 

Zion's  Herald,  the  independent  Methodist  journal 
published  in  Boston,  maintained  its  reputation  for  in- 
dependence during  the  war,  but  was  not  less  loyal  than 
the  other  Methodist  journals.  Like  all  the  other  Metho- 
dist papers,  it  devoted  large  space  to  war  items  and  cor- 
respondence and  frequent  patriotic  editorials.  Its  edi- 
tor, Dr.  E.  0.  Haven,  was  the  cousin  of  Dr.  Gilbert 
Haven,  chaplain  of  the  Eighth  Massachusetts,  both  of 
whom  afterwards  became  bishops  in  the  Church.  The 
following  short  extract  from  an  editorial  will  show  the 
war  spirit  of  Zion's  Herald:  "How  can  the  United 
States,  with  any  respect  for  itself  as  a  nation,  allow  its 
own  disintegration?  ...  If  there  is  to  be  a  divorce, 
let  the  ceremony  be  at  least  as  difficult  as  the  marriage 
contract?"37 

Other  Methodist  journals — the  Buffalo,  Pittsburgh, 
and  Pacific  Christian  Advocates,  and  the  German  paper, 
the  Christian  Apologist — were  all  loyal  supporters  of 
the  Government  and  were  conducted  in  a  similar  man- 
ner to  the  journals  already  noted.  The  Buffalo  paper 
in  March,  1861,  said:  "We  are  gratified  to  be  able  to 
present  our  readers  this  early  with  the  inaugural  address 

35  Quoted  in  the  Methodist,  May  4,  1861,  from  the  Northwestern. 
86  General  Conference  Journal,  1860 ;  pp.  397-400 ;  1864,  pp.  335- 
341.  S1  Zion's  Herald,  April  21,  1861. 

127 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


in  full  of  President  Lincoln.  It  bears  the  unmistakable 
impress  of  a  mind  deeply  sensible  of  the  weighty  re- 
sponsibilities of  the  occasion,  and  a  fearless  and  un- 
changeable resolution  to  meet  them."38  This  paper 
headed  its  editorial  column  with  an  engraving  of  the 
flag,  followed  with  the  motto,  "Let  the  Battle  Rage! 
The  Union !  The  Constitution !  Both  now  and  for- 
ever!"39 Again  this  paper  editorially  states:  "If  civil 
war  must  come,  then  we  say,  Let  it  be  an  earnest  one ! 
Let  the  chastening  rod  descend  with  a  will."  The 
Pittsburgh  Advocate  expressed  itself  in  a  similar  way 
on  the  National  issues,  and  received  the  approbation  of 
its  patronizing  Conference  for  its  patriotic  stand.40  Of 
the  Pacific  Christian  Advocate  and  its  editor  we  find 
this  statement :  ' '  The  talented  editor  of  the  Pacific  Ad- 
vocate finds  treason  in  Oregon.  His  noble  and  patriotic 
stand  for  the  Union  is  worthy  the  support  of  all  loyal 
Americans."41  The  Christian  Apologist  deserves  men- 
tion for  its  patriotic  influence  among  German  Metho- 
dists. The  Ladies'  Repository  also,  though  purely  a 
literary  journal,  had  frequent  editorials  indicative  of 
patriotism42  and  loyalty. 

Of  the  Methodist  press  as  a  whole  a  journal  of  an- 
other denomination  stated  in  December,  1861:  "The 
masses  of  the  Methodists  on  this  side  of  Mason  and 
Dixon 's  line  are  loyal  to  the  country,  and  are  excelled  in 
their  patriotism  by  no  other  Christians.  The  tone  of  the 
Methodist  press  is  high ;  and  the  Advocates,  we  are  glad 
to  say,  without  exception  give  no  uncertain  sound."43 

The  papers  of  the  Methodist  Church  South  were  all 
supporters  of  the  Confederacy.    Among  the  leading 

38  Buffalo  Christian  Advocate,  quoted  in  Christian  Advocate, 
March  14,  1861. 

39  The  Methodist,  May  4,  1861. 

40  Minutes  of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  1863,  p.  21. 

41  Western  Christian  Advocate,  July  4,  1861. 

^Ladies'  Bepository,  April,  1861;  ibid,  Aug.,  1861,  p.  512. 
43  Beligious  Telescope,  quoted  by  Christian  Advocate,  Dec.  5, 
1861. 

128 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


journals  were  the  Nashville  Christian  Advocate,  the 
St.  Loiiis  Christian  Advocate,  the  New  Orleans  and  Ken- 
tucky Advocates.  Of  these  papers  the  Western  Christian 
Advocate  early  in  1861  had  to  say,  "In  not  one  single 
paper  of  the  Church  South  that  reaches  this  office  have 
we  seen  a  single  word  from  the  editors  favorable  to  the 
Union. '  '44  Before  the  war  had  progressed  long,  however, 
most  of  these  papers  were  compelled  to  suspend  publi- 
cation, which  was  also  true  of  the  papers  of  other  de- 
nominations of  the  South.  Indeed,  as  early  as  June, 
1861,  the  following  Southern  Baptist  papers  had  sus- 
pended publication:  The  Western  Watchman,  of  St. 
Louis ;  the  Southern  Baptist,  Charleston,  S.  C. ;  the  Vir- 
ginia Baptist;  the  Baptist  Messenger,  Memphis,  Tenn. ; 
the  Northwestern  Virginia  Baptist,  and  the  Baptist 
Standard,  of  Nashville.45 

Another  matter  in  reference  to  the  Church  periodi- 
cals in  connection  with  the  war  which  ought  not  to  be 
omitted  was  their  large  circulation  among  the  soldiers 
and  throughout  the  armies.  The  furnishing  of  good 
reading  matter  for  the  soldiers  found  early  advocates, 
dating  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  and  the 
Church  papers  immediately  took  up  the  matter.  In  De- 
cember, 1861,  a  chaplain  writes:  "I  thank  you  from 
my  heart  for  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal.  It 
sheds  a  glorious  and  wholesome  influence  among  us. 
I  don't  see  how  I  could  dispense  with  it."46  Most  of 
the  papers  offered  a  special  rate  to  soldiers,  covering 
only  the  cost,  and  appeals  from  time  to  time  appeared 
in  their  columns  asking  their  readers  to  send  the  papers 
to  their  friends  in  the  army.  One  such  appeal  states,  in 
part:  "In  many  cases  a  number  of  soldiers  have  gone 
from  the  same  town  or  neighborhood.  The  citizens  of 
such  a  town  or  neighborhood  might  collect  what  money 

"Western,  March  6,  1861.      45 Zion's  Herald,  June  12,  1861. 
"Christian  Advocate,  December  19,  1861;  also  ibid,  Oct.  23, 
1863,  and  Feb.  12,  1862. 

9  129 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


they  could  for  this  object,  and  the  papers  can  be  sent 
all  in  one  package  to  the  company  or  regiment."47 
Many  Churches  and  Conferences  took  up  this  matter, 
and  considerable  money  was  collected  for  this  purpose. 
Thus  a  Church  in  Lebanon,  111.,  sent  $50  to  have  five 
thousand  copies  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  sent 
to  the  army;  and  another  Church,  in  Windham,  Ohio, 
sent  $23  for  the  same  purpose.48  The  ladies  of  Ferguson 
Township,  Center  County,  Pa.,  sent  $12  to  supply  the 
Forty-fifth  Pennsylvania  Regiment  with  the  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal. 

The  Cincinnati  Conference  at  its  session  in  1863 
passed  the  following  resolutions  relative  to  supplying 
the  soldiers  with  religious  reading,  which  are  typical  of 
those  passed  by  other  Conferences: 

Whereas,  A  large  proportion  of  our  citizen  soldiery 
now  in  the  field  are  either  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  or  have  been  reared  Methodistically ; 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  furnish 
them  with  such  religious  reading  as  will  both  interest 
and  profit  them  in  their  hours  of  privation,  endurance, 
and  loneliness  in  the  camp  and  hospital ; 

Resolved,  That  this  is  a  most  successful  way  to  keep 
up  the  animus  of  the  army  and  make  it  invincible  to 
the  enemy; 

Resolved,  That  the  Cincinnati  Annual  Conference 
recommend  the  pastors  of  the  various  English  Churches 
in  its  bounds  to  take  up  collections  as  early  as  October, 
to  purchase  religious  literature  for  our  brave  soldiers; 
and 

Whereas,  The  United  States  Christian  Commission 
is  the  speediest  way  of  communication  with  our  soldiers, 
and  has  received  the  approval  and  sanction  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Government  officials; 

Resolved,  That  the  funds  so  collected  be  forwarded 
to  W.  T.  Perkins,  Cincinnati,  treasurer  of  the  Western 
branch  of  the  Christian  Commission; 

47  Ibid. 

48  Western,  Dec.  2,  1863. 

130 


Methodist  Periodicals  During  the  War. 


Resolved,  That  this  Conference  heartily  approve  the 
proposal  of  the  Book  Agents  at  Cincinnati  and  New 
York  to  sell  at  one-half  the  published  prices  Methodist 
books  and  periodicals,  for  circulation  among  our  soldiers 
in  army  and  navy.40 

Zion's  Herald  was  particularly  active  in  this  matter, 
and  in  almost  every  issue  collections  for  this  purpose 
from  the  various  Churches  are  noted.  In  the  issue  of 
June  19,  1861,  appears  this  item: 

We  have  received  the  following  sums  to  pay  for  the 


Herald  to  be  sent  to  the  soldiers: 

Collection,  Maiden,  Mass  $7  00 

Individual  subscriptions   6  00 

Again,  in  the  July  3d  (1861)  issue: 
Collections  in  New  Hampshire  Con- 
ference  $22  05 

Wesley  Church,  Bath,  Maine   6  35 

Individual  subscriptions   16  00 


The  German  weekly,  the  Apologist,  was  also  active  in 
this  matter.  Dr.  Wm.  Nast,  the  editor  in  1861,  was  try- 
ing to  raise  $1,000  for  the  distribution  of  the  Apologist 
among  the  German  soldiers.  His  appeal  closes  with: 
"Our  plan  is  to  make  up  $1,000  as  a  fund  for  sending 
the  Apologist  into  the  different  regiments.  The  Germans 
have  already  taken  about  $300  worth  of  shares.  Who 
will  help  us?"50 

The  Tract  Society  was  also  active  in  sending  their 
publication,  Good  News,  to  the  army.  In  186351  it  is 
stated  that  about  five  thousand  copies  of  this  paper 
were  sent  regularly  for  distribution  among  the  soldiers 
and  sailors,  and  the  publishers  reported  in  1864  that 
"50,000  copies  go  monthly  to  the  army  and  navy."62 

49  Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1863,  p.  33. 

50  Western,  Oct.  23,  1861 ;  also  Christian  Advocate,  Nov.  14, 
1861. 

61  Christian  Advocate,  March  26,  1863. 
"General  Conference  Journal,  1864,  p.  336. 

131 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Another  fact  which  ought  to  be  noted  in  this  con- 
nection is  that  at  the  General  Conference  of  1864  three 
of  the  war  editors  of  Methodist  journals  were  elected  to 
the  episcopate — Dr.  Edward  Thomson,  of  the  Chris- 
tian Advocate  and  Journal;  Dr.  Charles  Kingsley,  of  the 
Western;  and  Dr.  D.  W.  Clark,  editor  of  the  Ladies'  Re- 
pository— and  later  Dr.  E.  0.  Haven,  of  Zion's  Herald. 
This  fact  is  certainly  indicative  of  the  general  approval 
of  the  Church  of  the  way  in  which  these  editors  had 
conducted  these  Methodist  papers  during  the  trying 
times  of  the  war. 


132 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Methodist  Chaplains  in  the  Union  Armies. 

The  need  of  chaplains  in  the  army  was  early  recog- 
nized by  the  War  Department.  Less  than  a  month  after 
the  first  call  for  troops  by  President  Lincoln,  a  general 
order  was  issued  by  the  War  Department,  May  4,  1861, 
stating  that  one  chaplain  would  be  allowed  to  each  regi- 
ment, who  should  be  appointed  by  the  regimental  com- 
mander, on  the  vote  of  the  various  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment. This  order  also  stated  that  the  chaplain  must  be 
a  regularly  ordained  minister  and  should  receive  the 
pay  and  allowance  of  a  captain  of  cavalry.1 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  numerous  other  or- 
ders were  issued,  and  several  Acts  of  Congress  passed, 
bearing  upon  the  subject  of  chaplains.  On  August  19, 
1861,  Congress  passed  an  act  ' '  providing  for  the  better 
organization  of  the  military  establishment."  Section  7 
of  this  act  refers  to  chaplains,  ratifying  the  order  of 
May  4th,  but  leaving  the  method  of  their  selection  to 
the  President.  This  act  specifically  states,  also,  that 
none  but  regularly  ordained  ministers  of  some  Christian 
denomination  shall  be  eligible.2 

It  was  early  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  President 
1 'by  Christian  ministers  and  other  pious  people"3  that 
chaplains  simply  for  the  regiments  were  not  sufficient, 
but  that  they  were  especially  needed  at  the  hospitals, 
for  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  The  President  fully 
recognized  this  need,  and  appointed  a  number  of  chap- 
lains for  hospital  service,  stating,  however,  in  his  letter 

^'Official  Eecords,"  III,  vol.  ii,  p.  154. 

2  Ibid,  Series  III,  vol.  i,  p.  398.  3  Ibid,  p.  721. 

133 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


appointing  them,  that  there  was  no  law  conferring  the 
power  upon  him  to  appoint  them,  but  he  asks  them  to 
"voluntarily  enter  upon  and  perform  the  appropriate 
duties  of  such  position, ' '  promising  that  he  will  ' '  recom- 
mend that  Congress  make  compensation  therefor  at  the 
same  rate  as  chaplains  in  the  army."4  The  President, 
true  to  his  promise,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  Decem- 
ber 3,  1861,  calls  attention  to  the  need  of  chaplains  for 
hospitals,  and  recommends  that  the  men  who  are  already 
engaged  in  hospital  service  as  chaplains  be  compensated 
the  same  as  chaplains  in  the  army,  and  also  that  pro- 
vision be  made  for  providing  regular  hospital  chaplains.5 
In  this  simple  recommendation  we  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  great  heart  of  the  President,  who,  while  he  is  con- 
sidering the  great  affairs  of  State,  yet  does  not  forget 
the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  languishing  in  the  hos- 
pitals. Following  this  recommendation  of  the  Presi- 
dent's, Congress  on  May  20,  1862,  passed  an  act  legal- 
izing the  action  of  the  President  and  providing  a  chap- 
lain for  each  permanent  hospital.6 

The  war  had  not  been  in  progress  very  long  before 
some  discreditable  facts  were  brought  to  light  regarding 
the  appointment  of  chaplains.  As  early  as  August  1, 
1861,  it  was  learned  that  certain  men  had  received  ap- 
pointments as  chaplains  who  had  never  been  recognized 
by  any  Church  as  ministers.7  In  one  instance,  it  is  said, 
an  actor  bore  the  name,  received  the  pay  of  chaplain, 
and  in  another  regiment  a  French  cook  was  mustered 
as  a  chaplain  in  order  to  meet  the  expense  of  keeping 
him.8  The  paymaster  general  of  the  army,  Benjamin 
F.  Larned,  in  a  letter  to  Senator  Henry  Wilson,  Decem- 
ber 5,  1861,  says  regarding  this  state  of  affairs:  "I  re- 

4 ' 'Official  Records,"  III,  vol.  i,  p.  271. 

5 1 '  Papers  and  Messages  of  the  Presidents, ' '  Kichardson,  vol.  vi. 
p.  48;  also  "  Official  Records,"  III,  vol.  i,  p.  712. 
eIbid,  III,  vol.  ii,  p.  67. 

7  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Aug.  1,  1861. 
8 ' 4  Official  Records, ' 9  III,  vol.  i,  p.  72. 

134 


Methodist  Chaplains  in  the  Union  Armies. 


gret  to  say  that  very  many  holding  this  position  are 
utterly  unworthy,  and  while  I  would  not  deprive  our 
regiments  of  the  service  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel, 
I  think  none  should  be  appointed  who  did  not  come 
recommended  by  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority  with 
which  they  are  connected." 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  not  entirely 
free  from  the  taint  of  this  disgraceful  condition.  It 
seems  that  certain  local  preachers  (lay  preachers)  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  Pennsylvania  espe- 
cially, had  obtained  ordination  at  the  hands  of  an  in- 
dependent Congregational  Church,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  becoming  chaplains  in  the  army.9  This  action,  how- 
ever, was  denounced  by  the  authorities  of  the  Church 
and  by  the  Church  periodicals.  On  February  10,  1862, 
the  Methodist  preachers  of  Philadelphia  and  vicinity 
passed  resolutions  condemning  this  action  of  the  local 
preachers  and  declaring  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  was  not  responsible  for,  and  could  not  recognize, 
their  ordination  as  ministers  of  the  Church.10 

In  order  to  safeguard  the  office  of  chaplain  from 
being  held  by  such  unworthy  persons,  Congress  on  July 
17,  1862,  passed  an  act  declaring  that  no  person  shall 
be  made  a  chaplain  ''who  is  not  a  regularly  ordained 
minister  of  some  religious  denomination  and  who  does 
not  present  testimonials  of  his  present  good  standing, 
with  recommendations  for  his  appointment  as  an  army 
chaplain  from  some  authorized  ecclesiastical  body  or 
from  not  less  than  five  accredited  ministers  belonging 
to  said  religious  denomination."11  This  act  also  fixes 
the  compensation  of  all  chaplains  "in  the  regular  or 
volunteer  service  or  army  hospitals  at  one  hundred  dol- 
lars per  month,  and  two  rations  per  day."  Just  how 
much  influence  the  pay  exercised  in  inducing  ministers 

9  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Feb.  20,  1862. 

10  Minutes  Philadelphia  Preachers'  Meeting,  Feb.  10,  1862. 

11  "  Official  Kecords,"  Series  III,  vol.  ii,  p.  278. 

135 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


to  enter  the  army  as  chaplains  would  be  difficult  to  de- 
termine; but,  considering  the  hardships  and  the  danger 
they  would  be  compelled  to  undergo,  it  would  not  seem 
that  one  hundred  dollars  per  month  would  offer  much 
inducement.  However,  it  is  true  that,  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  least,  during  the  war  the  supply 
of  ministers  was  greater  than  the  demand,  and  at  most 
of  the  Annual  Conferences  candidates  for  the  ministry 
were  rejected  for  want  of  Churches  to  which  to  send 
them.12  Doubtless  some  of  these  young  men's  spiritual 
ears  were  rendered  a  little  more  acute  to  the  call  of 
the  ministry  because  of  the  prospect  of  gaining  a  chap- 
laincy. 

On  April  9,  1864,  Congress  approved  another  act, 
determining  the  rank  of  the  chaplain.13  It  stated  that  he 
should  be  placed  on  the  rolls  next  after  the  surgeon.  At 
the  opening  of  the  war  the  Government  was  new  at  the 
business  of  organizing  regiments  and  getting  them  prop- 
erly officered,  and  the  office  of  chaplain  seemed  to  puz- 
zle them  more  than  any  other.  Some  thought  that  the 
chaplain  was  not  an  officer  in  the  generally  accepted 
military  sense,  while  others  held  that  the  chaplain  held 
a  separate  rank  entirely,14  and  it  was  not  until  this 
act  of  April  9,  1864,  that  the  rank  of  chaplain  was 
clearly  determined.  Section  2  of  this  act  fixes  a  dis- 
ability pension  of  twenty  dollars  per  month  for  chap- 
lains, and  Sections  3  and  4  prescribe  his  duties.  He 
was  to  make  monthly  reports  to  the  adjutant  general 
of  the  army  regarding  the  moral  condition  of  the  men 
under  his  care;  he  was  to  hold  appropriate  religious 
services  at  the  burial  of  soldiers,  and  the  act  also  pre- 
scribed that  he  should  conduct  public  religious  services 
at  least  once  each  Sabbath,  when  practicable. 

So  much  for  the  acts  and  orders  regulating  chaplains. 

12  Western  Christian  Advocate,  May  21,  1862. 

13 "  Official  Records/ '  Series  III,  vol.  iv,  pp.  227-228. 

14  Ibid,  pp.  809,  1207. 

136 


Methodist  Chaplains  in  the  Union  Armies. 


We  now  turn  to  a  consideration  of  Methodist  Episcopal 
chaplains  in  particular. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  war  indicated  her  willingness  to  co-operate 
with  the  Government  in  supplying  chaplains  for  the 
army  and  navy.  Various  organizations  of  Methodist 
ministers,15  as  well  as  many  individual  ministers,10  early 
expressed  willingness  to  serve  as  chaplains.  The  bishops 
also  stated  on  various  occasions  their  willingness  to  re- 
lieve such  ministers  from  their  Churches  and  appoint 
them  as  chaplains  in  the  army.17  In  Philadelphia  a 
committee  of  preachers  was  appointed  to  receive  the 
names  of  those  who  should  volunteer  to  go  as  chaplains, 
and  to  confer  with  the  governor  of  the  State  in  regard 
to  their  appointment.18  Similar  action  was  also  taken 
by  the  Methodist  preachers  of  Boston.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  Preachers'  Meeting  of  Boston  and  Vicinity  in 
August,  1862,  a  motion  was  made  that  the  governor  be 
informed  "that  several  of  the  Methodist  clergymen  of 
this  vicinity  are  ready  to  enter  the  army  as  chaplains. '  '10 
It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  Rev.  Gilbert  Haven, 
of  the  New  England  Conference,  was  the  first  chaplain 
commissioned  in  the  war.20  In  most  instances,  however, 
the  chaplain  was  selected  directly  by  the  regiment,  and 
a  chaplain's  selection  would  therefore  depend  upon  his 
patriotism  and  his  popularity  with  the  officers  and  men 
of  that  particular  regiment.  In  very  many  instances 
where  a  considerable  number  of  the  rank  and  file  were 
members  or  attendants  of  a  certain  Church,  they  would 
very  naturally  select  the  minister  of  that  Church  as 
their  chaplain.    In  a  few  instances  ministers  enlisted 

15 Minutes  Philadelphia  Preachers'  Meeting,  April  29,  1861. 
16  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  May  2,  1861. 
"Minutes  Philadelphia  Preachers'  Meeting,  May  20,  1861. 

18  Ibid,  May  6,  1861. 

19  Minutes  Methodist  Preachers'  Meeting  of  Boston,  August, 

20  Minutes  New  England  Conference,  1896,  pp.  130,  131. 

137 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


as  privates,  and  were  afterwards  selected  by  their  regi- 
ments as  chaplains. 

I  have  found  no  little  difficulty  in  compiling  a  list 
of  Methodist  chaplains  who  served  during  the  war.  I 
have  succeeded,  however,  in  making  a  list  that  is  prac- 
tically complete.  This  list  has  been  obtained  by  going 
through  the  lists  of  appointments  of  the  various  Con- 
ferences for  the  four  years  of  the  war.21  By  this  method 
four  hundred  and  forty-two  names  were  obtained.  The 
list  has  been  made  more  complete  by  a  careful  search 
through  the  files  of  the  Church  periodicals,  for  the  war, 
especially  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal  and  the 
Western  Christian  Advocate.  A  number  of  names  would 
not  appear  in  the  list  of  Conference  appointments  as 
chaplains  for  the  reason  that  many  served  as  chaplains 
less  than  a  year,  and  if  their  term  of  service  happened 
to  come  between  Conferences  their  names  would  not  ap- 
pear in  the  Conference  appointments. 

Doubtless  a  number  are  omitted  in  the  following  list, 
but  I  am  certain  the  number  is  not  large. 

The  list,  by  Conferences,  is  as  follows: 


Baltimore   2  ] 

Black  Eiver   8 

Central  German   1 

Central  Illinois   13 

Central  Ohio    13 

Cincinnati    21 

Des  Moines    2 

Detroit    12 

East  Baltimore   17 

East  Genesee   6 

East  Maine    9 

Erie   10 

Genesee   10 

Holston   1 

Illinois    21 

Indiana    21 


Iowa    17 

Kansas    11 

Kentucky    4 

Maine    4 

Michigan   8 

Minnesota    10 

Missouri  and  Arkansas   13 

Nebraska    1 

Newark   12 

New  England   10 

New  Hampshire   10 

New  Jersey    11 

New  York    8 

New  York  East   2 

North  Indiana   13 

North  Ohio    12 


21  Minutes  of  the  Annual  Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States,  1861-1865,  3  vols. 

138 


Methodist  Chaplains  in  the  Union  Armies. 


Northwest  Indiana  . . 
Northwest  Wisconsin 

Ohio   

Oneida   

Philadelphia  , 

Pittsburgh   

Providence  , 

Rock  River  

Southeast  Indiana. .  . , 


11  Southern  Illinois 

4  Troy   

17  Upper  Iowa 

6  Vermont  

21  West  Iowa  

18  West  Wisconsin 

5  West  Virginia  .  . 
13  Wisconsin   

9  Wyoming   


17 
10 
2 

7 

2 
5 
V.\ 
5 
G 


This  list  totals  487  names,  and  in  addition  to  these 
there  are  seventeen  or  twenty  names  not  listed  under 
any  Conference,  including  Bishop  Ames,  who  was  ap- 
pointed chaplain  of  an  Indiana  regiment,  and  several 
local  preachers,  who  obtained  a  chaplaincy  in  a  legiti- 
mate manner,  and  also  several  loyal  ministers  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  at  least  nine  from 
Kentucky,  two  from  Virginia,  and  two  or  more  from 
Missouri.  The  total  number  of  Methodist  chaplains  who 
served  in  the  Union  armies  during  the  War  of  the  Re- 
bellion^can  be  safely  put  at  510. 

There  were  four  Conferences  which  furnished  twenty 
or  more  chaplains :  the  Cincinnati,  Illinois,  Indiana,  and 
Philadelphia;  and  five  Conferences  which  furnished  fif- 
teen or  more:  the  East  Baltimore,  Iowa,  Pittsburgh, 
Ohio,  and  Southern  Illinois.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  these  Conferences,  furnishing  the  largest  number  of 
Methodist  chaplains,  were,  with  the  exception  of  the  Iowa, 
near  the  seat  of  the  war.  The  four  States  furnishing  the 
largest  number  were :  Illinois,  64 ;  Ohio,  63 ;  Indiana,  54 ; 
and  Pennsylvania,  54 ;  these  four  States  alone  furnishing 
235,  or  nearly  half  the  total  number.  It  is  also  inter- 
esting to  note  the  large  number,  comparatively,  fur- 
nished by  the  small  Border  Conferences :  West  Virginia, 
13;  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  13;  Kansas,  11;  and  Ken- 
tucky, which  only  had  nineteen  preachers  in  all,  in  1861, 
furnished  four. 

As  a  general  rule  the  chaplains  were  faithful  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties.   In  many  instances  a  Regi- 


139 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


mental  Church22  was  formed,  which  held  regular  serv- 
ices; and  where  a  regiment  remained  long  in  camp  the 
chaplain  usually  improved  the  time  by  holding  a  revival 
meeting.  At  the  close  of  such  a  meeting  in  an  Indiana 
regiment23  forty-eight  soldiers  were  received  into  the 
regimental  Church.  In  a  New  York  regiment  a  revival 
meeting  was  kept  up  thirty  nights  in  succession  in  a 
tent  furnished  for  that  purpose  by  General  Hunter,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  soldiers  professed  conver- 
sion. The  chaplain  stated  that,  as  a  result  of  the  meet- 
ings, there  had  been  a  perfect  revolution  in  the  regiment, 
and  that  profanity  had  nearly  ceased.24  In  an  Ohio 
regiment,  whose  colonel  was  a  well-known  Methodist 
preacher,  Colonel  Granville  Moody,  a  regimental  Church 
was  formed  called  the  "Church  of  the  Living  God," 
and  at  one  of  the  evening  services  of  this  soldiers' 
Church  the  colonel  himself  baptized  nine  soldiers.25  An- 
other chaplain,  of  a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  reports  that 
within  a  week  he  baptized  twenty-eight  soldiers  from  his 
regiment.  Instances  of  this  kind  were  not  at  all  un- 
common, as  the  files  of  the  various  Church  papers  for 
the  war  bear  witness,  for  in  almost  every  issue  are  ac- 
counts of  some  such  religious  meeting  as  I  have  de- 
scribed. 

Many  of  the  chaplains  kept  their  friends  in  the  North 
informed  as  to  what  was  going  on  in  their  regiments, 
through  letters  written  to  the  Church  papers.26  Some 
of  the  chaplains  were  regular  correspondents,  and  their 
communications  were  given  prominent  places  in  the 
papers.  Through  these  letters  the  chaplains  also  made 
known  the  needs  of  the  men  under  their  care,  and  made 
appeals  for  such  things  as  tents  for  services,  literature 

22Zion's  Herald,  Nov.  13,  1861. 

23  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Nov.  7,  1861. 

24  Ibid,  March  26,  1862. 

23  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Feb.  19,  1862. 
28  Ibid,  Oct.  23,  1861 ;  Nov.  27,  1862,  etc. ;  and  also  the  files  of 
all  the  other  Church  papers. 

140 


Methodist  Chaplains  in  the  Union  Armies. 


for  the  men,  and  other  provisions  and  comforts.  The 
chaplains  were  also  the  distributing  agents  for  the  Amer- 
ican Bible  Society,  the  Tract  Society,  and  the  various 
commissions.27  If  he  was  faithful  in  his  work,  the  chap- 
lain had  more  than  he  could  attend  to,  holding  the  re- 
quired services,  tending  the  sick,  comforting  those  boy 
soldiers  who  were  homesick  and  disheartened,  distribut- 
ing good  reading  matter,  and  a  hundred  other  duties, 
all  of  which  contributed  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  army. 
A  number  of  chaplains  after  retiring  from  the  army  be- 
came special  agents  of  the  Christian  Commission  or  Bible 
Society,  or  missionaries  to  the  South  or  to  the  freedmen. 
27  Western  Christicm  Advocate,  Jan.  15,  1862. 


141 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  War  Bishops. 

In  1861  the  Methodist  Episcopal  bishops  and  their 
residences  were  as  follows: 

Thomas  A.  Morris  Springfield,  Ohio. 

E.  S.  Janes  New  York. 

Levi  Scott  Wilmington,  Del. 

Matthew  Simpson  Evanston,  111. 

0.  C.  Baker  Concord,  N.  H. 

Edward  R.  Ames  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

The  Methodist  bishops  had  no  settled  territory  over 
which  they  presided,  but  traveled  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other  in  the  regular  performance  of  their 
duties.  This  brought  them  in  direct  contact  with  all 
sections  of  the  country  and  made  them  familiar  with 
all  shades  of  opinion  in  respect  to  loyalty  or  disloyalty 
to  the  United  States  Government,  and  it  also  gave  them 
great  opportunities  of  being  of  service  to  the  country 
in  regard  to  stirring  up  patriotism  among  the  people. 
To  indicate  the  wide  range  of  territory  covered  by  a 
Methodist  bishop  in  the  course  of  but  a  single  year,  I  give 
this  table  showing  the  itinerary  of  the  six  bishops  for 
the  year  1863  by  Conferences: 

Bishop  Morris  ...  Kentucky   Feb.  26-28. 

West  Virginia  Mar.  18-23. 

North  Indiana   Apr.  9-13. 

North  Ohio   Sept.  2-7. 

Indiana  Sept.  16-21. 

Northwest  Indiana  Sept.  30-Oct.  5. 

Bishop  Janes.  . .  .Pittsburgh   Mar.  18-23. 

Providence  Mar.  27-Apr.  1. 

Wyoming  (Pa.)  Apr.  9-13. 

Black  River  (N.  Y.)  Apr.  15-23. 

Oregon   Aug.  12-17. 

California   Sept.  2-8. 

142 


The  War  Bishops. 


Bishop  Scott  East  Baltimore  Mar.  4-11. 

New  Jersey  Mar.  18-20. 

New  England   Apr.  1-7. 

New  York   Apr.  15-22. 

East  Genesee  (N.  Y.  and  Pa.) .  .Sept.  9-14. 

Central  Illinois  Sept.  15-21. 

Rock  River  (111.)  Sept.  23-28. 

Wisconsin   Oct.  1-6. 

Illinois   Oct.  8-14. 

Bishop  Simpson ..  Baltimore  Mar.  4-10. 

Philadelphia   Mar.  18-27. 

Vermont   Apr.  15-20. 

Maine   Apr.  22-27. 

East  Maine   Apr.  29-May  4. 

Erie  (Pa.  and  Ohio)  July  15-21. 

West  Wisconsin   Sept.  2-7. 

Central  Ohio   Sept.  9-14. 

Detroit   Sept.  16-22. 

Michigan   Sept.  23-29. 

Genesee  (N.  Y.)  Oct.  1-7. 

Bishop  Baker.. .  .Newark  (N.  J.)  Mar.  25-31. 

New  York  East  Apr.  1-7. 

New  Hampshire   Apr.  8-13. 

Troy  (N.  Y.)  Apr.  15-21. 

Oneida  (N.  Y.)  Apr.  22-24. 

Cincinnati  (Ohio)   Sept.  2-9. 

Ohio  Sept.  9-14. 

Southeastern  Indiana   Sept.  16-21. 

Southern  Illinois  Sept.  23-26. 

Bishop  Ames  . . .  .Missouri  and  Arkansas  Mar.  4-  . 

Kansas   Mar.  11-16. 

Nebraska   Mar.  25-29. 

Rocky  Mountain  July  10-13. 

Western  Iowa  Sept.  2-5. 

Iowa   Sept.  9-15. 

Upper  Iowa  Sept.  16-21. 

Minnesota   Sept.  30-Oct.  3. 

Southwest  Wisconsin  Oct.  7-10. 

Every   year  the   itinerary   of   each   bishop  was 


changed,  so  that  during  the  five  years  of  the  war  each 
Bishop  visited  practically  every  State  in  the  North.  For 
instance,  Bishop  Simpson  from  1861  to  1865  held  Con- 
ferences in  twenty-one  Northern  States.1 


1  General  Minutes  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  1861-1865, 
3  vols. 

143 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


It  is  the  intention  of  this  chapter  to  show  that  these 
six  war  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ex- 
ercised an  important  and  far-reaching  influence  in  the 
interest  of  loyalty  and  patriotism.  Every  one  of  the 
six  was  unquestionably  loyal  from  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  and,  as  the  war  progressed,  became  increasingly  so. 

Bishop  Morris,  the  senior  bishop,  lived  in  Springfield, 
Ohio.  He  was  considerably  older  than  the  other  bishops, 
and  was  therefore  relieved  of  some  of  the  heavier  duties 
attendant  upon  his  office  by  his  younger  colleagues,  but 
he  seems  to  have  never  failed  to  lift  his  voice  in  favor 
of  the  preservation  of  the  Union  and  against  slavery 
whenever  the  opportunity  presented  itself.  One  of  the 
Church  periodicals  stated  in  1861  that  "the  star-spangled 
banner  was  continuing  to  wave  from  the  flagstaff  of  our 
venerable  senior  bishop,  Thomas  A.  Morris."2  At  the 
session  of  the  Erie  Conference  in  the  fall  of  1861,  over 
which  Bishop  Morris  presided,  when  the  report  on  the 
State  of  the  Country  was  read,  and  a  motion  was  offered 
to  send  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  to  President  Lincoln, 
Bishop  Morris  remarked,  "with  his  characteristic  good 
feeling,  'That 's  right,  give  "Old  Abe"  a  lift.'  "3 

In  1863  Bishop  Morris  presided  at  the  Western  Vir- 
ginia Conference,  and  in  an  address  before  that  body 
stated  that  he  was  a  native  of  Western  Virginia,  which 
he  deemed  far  higher  honor  than  to  be  a  native  of  the 
' '  Old  Dominion, ' '  for  the  Old  Dominion  was  now  in  re- 
bellion, and  he  was  for  the  Union,  without  any  ifs  or 
ands  or  buts.4 

The  next  bishop  in  order  of  seniority  was  Edmund 
S.  Janes,  whose  residence  was  New  York  City.  During 
the  first  year  of  the  war  Bishop  Janes  was  visiting  the 
Methodist  missions  in  Western  Europe.  Soon  after  the 
inauguration  of  President  Lincoln,  the  bishop  refers  to 

2  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  June  6,  1861. 

8  Ibid,  September  12,  1861. 

4  Western  Christian  Advocate,  April  15,  1863. 

144 


The  War  Bishops. 


the  oncoming  struggle  in  a  letter  written  to  one  of  his 
children.  He  says :  1  *  I  expect  you  have  heard  the  drum 
very  often  lately.  I  am  sorry  men  will  be  so  wicked 
as  to  make  it  necessary  to  fight.  Our  beloved  country 
is  passing  through  great  trials.  I  believe  Providence 
will  take  care  of  our  noble,  free  institutions.  I  expect 
the  world  will  sing  '  Hail !  Columbia  ! '  many  generations 
hence."5  During  his  absence  in  Europe,  and  especially 
in  England,  Bishop  Janes  was  enabled  to  perform  some 
patriotic  service  for  his  distracted  country.  His  biogra- 
pher states  that  "in  his  public  addresses  and  private 
conversations  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  one  absorbing 
topic  of  the  hour  with  every  American,  at  home  and 
abroad.  He  did  all  he  could  to  promote  a  correct  un- 
derstanding of  the  great  controversy  between  the  North 
and  the  South."6  In  a  letter  to  the  bishop  soon  after 
his  return  to  America,  Dr.  John  McClintock,  who  was 
then  pastor  of  the  American  Church  in  Paris,  wrote: 
"Your  services  in  England  were  exceedingly  useful, 
both  to  our  Church  and  to  the  country.  The  apprecia- 
tion of  them  in  the  newspapers  is  flattering  to  you."7 
The  following  is  a  partial  report  of  a  speech  the 
bishop  delivered  in  Newcastle,  England.8  Referring  to 
the  war  now  being  waged  in  the  United  States,  he  said : 
"This  question  ...  is  one  which,  I  think,  claims  the 
sympathy,  interest,  and  prayers  of  all  philanthropists, 
and  I  believe  I  am  justified  in  saying  that  in  the  United 
States  one  of  the  principal  apprehensions  they  have  felt 
has  been  that  there  might  be  an  unhappy  influence  on 
the  question  from  this  country.  We  know  that  Victoria 
was  queen,  but  some  claim  that  Cotton  was  king,  even 
in  England.  (Cries  of  'No,  No/)  Very  well,  if  you 
do  n 't  acknowledge  his  authority,  all  right.    I  ought  to 

6 1 1  Life  of  Bishop  Janes,  * '  Eidgeway,  pp.  248,  249. 
8  "Life  of  Bishop  Janes,"  Eidgeway,  p.  251. 

7  Ibid. 

8  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  August  22,  1861.  Copied 
from  the  Northern  Daily  Press  (England). 

10  145 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


say  that  this  apprehension  has  been  lessened  very  much 
by  the  recent  action  of  the  Government  and  the  tone  of 
your  public  press." 

In  this  connection  I  will  mention  the  patriotic  serv- 
ices of  Dr.  John  McClintock,  in  Paris.  Though  not  a 
bishop,  he  was  a  minister  of  great  influence  and  high 
standing  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the 
service  he  performed  during  his  residence  in  Paris  was 
considerable. 

Just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Dr.  McClintock 
had  become  the  pastor  of  the  American  Church  in  Paris. 
His  biographer  states  that  "in  all  the  dark  period  from 
1861  to  1863  his  voice  rang  out  clear  in  its  predictions 
of  our  final  success,  his  courage  made  others  courageous, 
his  hopefulness  gave  others  hope."9 

In  April,  1861,  Dr.  McClintock  delivered  an  address 
before  the  Wesley  an  Missionary  anniversary  in  Exeter 
Hall,  London,  in  which  he  took  occasion  to  say:  "The 
Times  said,  the  day  before  yesterday,  just  in  the  words 
that  I  will  now  quote,  'The  great  Republic  is  no  more.' 
Shall  I  go  home  and  tell  my  friends  that  I  do  n 't  know 
whether  you  believe  with  the  Times  or  not?  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  you  do  not ;  but  if  you  have  the  slightest 
disposition  to  believe  any  such  doctrine  as  that,  let  me 
tell  you,  'Lay  not  the  flattering  unction  to  your  souls.' 
No,  I  do  n 't  believe  that  Britons  will  rejoice  to  see  the 
day  when  the  'great  Republic'  shall  be  no  more.  (Tre- 
mendous cheering.)  But  if  they  shall,  let  me  tell  you 
the  day  of  their  rejoicing  is  very  far  away."  Further 
on  in  this  happy  speech  he  says:  "Suppose  that  we  in 
New  York,  editing  papers  ...  at  the  time  of  your  re- 
bellion in  the  East  Indies,  should  have  made  use  of  such 
an  expression  as  that.  I  am  not  afraid  of  talking  about 
the  Times  because  I  am  not  an  Englishman,  and  if  we  had 
printed  for  two  or  three  days  that  Great  Britain  was  no 

9  "Life  and  Letters  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  McClintock,"  Crooks,  p. 
284. 

146 


The  War  Bishops. 


more,  and  that  the  diadem  was  about  to  fall  from  the 
head  of  Victoria  because  there  was  a  rebellion  in  India, 
it  would  have  been  quite  a  parallel  case.  .  .  . 

"Now  let  me  say  to  you,  Mr.  President,  and  this 
vast  audience  of  Wesleyan  ministers,  and  good,  sensible, 
intelligent  people,  do  not  let  your  political  newspapers 
or  your  politicians  debauch  your  intellects  or  morals 
upon  the  present  exciting  American  question.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  whole  history  of  the  human  race  a  people 
to  the  extent  of  twenty  millions  have  risen  up  to  say, 
'We  will  forfeit  our  prestige  before  the  world;  we  will 
jeopard  our  name  even  as  a  great  republic;  we  will 
run  the  risk  even  of  a  terrible  civil  war  such  as  the 
world  has  never  seen;  we  will  do  all  this  sooner  than 
we  will  suffer  that  human  slavery  should  be  extended 
one  inch.'  (Tremendous  cheering.)  I  am  in  earnest 
about  that  point,  and  I  do  not  want  you  to  forget  it; 
and  if  you  read  the  Times  you  will  need  to  remember 
it."10  .  .  . 

Commenting  on  the  effects  of  this  speech,  the  London 
Watchman  says,  "We  never  before  saw  Exeter  Hall  in 
such  a  tumult  of  acclamation."11 

To  speak  in  detail  of  the  patriotic  activity  of  Dr. 
McClintock  in  France  and  England  would  occupy  too 
much  space  in  this  brief  account.  His  efforts  in  behalf 
of  his  country's  cause  was  not  limited  to  patriotic 
speeches  alone.  He  translated  De  Rasparin's  book,  "The 
Uprising  of  a  Great  People,"  and  published  it  in  Lon- 
don, paying  the  expense  with  money  sent  by  friends  of 
New  York.12  He  also  published  in  London  the  speech 
of  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  vice-president  of  the  Con- 
federacy, delivered  on  March  21,  1861,  in  which  slavery 
is  declared  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  government.13 
The  New  York  World  also  credits  him  with  an  article 

10  li  Life  and  Letters  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  McClintock, ' 1  Crooks,  pp. 
285-287.  ""Life  of  McClintock,"  Crooks,  p.  287. 

12  Ibid,  p.  289.  13  Ibid,  p.  288. 

147 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


in  L'Arne  de  la  Religion,1*  a  Paris  newspaper,  in  which 
he  vigorously  supports  the  cause  of  the  Union. 

In  connection  with  the  " Trent  affair"  Dr.  McClin- 
tock  was  also  able  to  render  some  valuable  service  to 
the  country.  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  then  in  Paris,  went 
over  to  London  to  assist  in  settling  the  misunderstand- 
ing over  this  affair,  and  took  with  him  a  letter  of  Dr. 
McClintock 's  to  Rev.  William  Arthur,  an  influential 
Wesleyan  minister,  who  introduced  him  to  Mr.  Kinnaird, 
M.  P.,  through  whom  he  received  early  introduction  to 
Lord  Palmerston  and  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.15 

Speaking  of  the  services  of  Dr.  McClintock,  the  New 
York  World  says:  "What  Motley  had  done  in  England 
by  his  able  letter  to  the  London  Times,  Dr.  J.  McClintock 
has  done  and  is  doing  for  France.  Availing  himself  of 
all  proper  means  for  instructing  the  people,  not  of 
France  alone  but  of  England  also,  he  leaves  them  no 
excuse  for  ignorance  of  the  principles  for  which  we 
wage  our  war  against  armed  rebellion.  The  Doctor  has 
no  diplomatic  position  in  the  country  of  his  present 
residence,  but  his  fertile  pen  and  thorough  scholarship 
enable  him  to  do  a  work  for  which  diplomacy  might  find 
itself  important  in  instructing  and  molding  that  public 
opinion  which  statesmen  can  not  long  neglect."  .  .  . 

Harper's  Weekly  has  this  to  say  of  the  services  of 
Dr.  McClintock:  "One  of  our  most  valiant  and  faithful 
champions  in  Europe  since  the  war  began  is  the  Rev. 
Dr.  McClintock.  .  .  .  The  Doctor  is  a  noble-hearted 
Christian  patriot,  and  his  labors  have  been  untiring  for 
the  welfare  of  his  country.  .  .  .  Through  his  influence 
and  speeches  the  great  body  of  the  Wesleyans  in  Eng- 
land have  been  our  firm  and  steadfast  friends."16 

14  Western  Christian  Advocate,  July  21,  1861.  Quoted  from 
New  York  World. 

15  For  Mr.  Weed's  statement  see  "Life  of  Dr.  McClintock," 
Crooks,  pp.  312,  313.  For  Dr.  McClintock's  correspondence  with 
William  Arthur  see  pp.  292-312. 

16 Harper's  Weekly,  May  21,  1864,  p.  323. 

148 


The  War  Bishops. 


Of  all  the  Methodist  ministers,  Bishop  Janes  and  Dr. 
McClintock  rendered  the  most  conspicuous  patriotic 
service  abroad. 

At  home  Bishop  Janes  was  especially  active  in  the 
work  of  the  Christian  Commission.  He  was  one  of  its 
charter  members,17  and  took  an  active  and  effective  part 
in  the  direction  of  its  great  work.  In  December,  1861, 
he  writes  from  Washington  that  he  has  been  gathering 
information  "on  subjects  connected  with  the  Christian 
Commission,"18  where  he  had  been  sent  by  the  commis- 
sion to  make  any  necessary  arrangements  with  the  Gov- 
ernment for  the  carrying  on  of  the  work  among  the 
soldiers.  He  reported  to  the  commission  in  January, 
1862,  that  he  had  been  well  received  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  who  gave  him  the  following  note: 

Washington  City,  January  24,  1863. 
Bishop  Janes  is  authorized  to  state  that  he  has  re- 
ceived assurance  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  that  every 
facility  consistent  with  the  exigencies  of  the  service  will 
be  afforded  to  the  Christian  Commission,  for  the  per- 
formance of  their  religious  and  benevolent  purposes  in 
the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  forts,  garri- 
sons, and  camps,  and  military  posts. 

E.  M.  Stanton.19 

Again,  in  June,  1862,  he  writes:  "I  have  been  en- 
gaged much  of  my  time  with  the  Christian  Commission. 
We  have  had  three  sessions,  and  have  another  this  even- 
ing."20 

In  December,  1864,  Bishop  Janes,  together  with 
Bishop  Lee,  of  Delaware,  and  Horatio  Gates  Jones,  of 
Philadelphia,  were  appointed  as  a  delegation  by  the 
Christian  Commission  to  visit  the  Union  prisoners  in 
Southern  prisons,  in  order  to  distribute  "food,  clothing, 
medicines,  and  religious  publications."    The  consent  of 

17  Annals  of  the  Christian  Commission,  Moss,  p.  106. 

18  "Life  of  Bishop  Janes,"  Ridgeway,  p.  251. 

19  Annals  of  the  Christian  Commission,  Moss,  p.  131. 
20 ' '  Life  of  Bishop  Janes, ' '  Ridgeway,  p.  256. 

149 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


the  War  Department  and  General  Grant  was  readily 
obtained,  and  every  effort  was  made  by  the  Federal 
authorities  to  assist  them  to  carry  out  their  mission,  but 
the  Confederate  authorities  refused  to  permit  the  visit.21 
Bishop  Janes  remained  an  executive  member  of  the  com- 
mission until  the  war  closed,  giving  to  it  all  the  time 
he  could  spare  from  his  regular  duties. 

Bishops  Scott  and  Baker  were  not  so  conspicuous  in 
their  patriotic  activities  as  perhaps  some  of  the  other 
bishops,  although  we  have  an  abundance  of  evidence 
that  they  were  intensely  loyal.  In  the  various  Confer- 
ences over  which  they  presided  they  took  an  active  and 
effective  part  in  any  patriotic  service  or  flag-raising,22 
and  never  missed  an  opportunity  of  denouncing  secession 
and  slavery.23 

Of  the  six  war  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Bishops  Ames  and  Simpson  undoubtedly  ren- 

21  For  all  the  correspondence  relating  to  the  incident  between 
the  Christian  Commission  and  the  War  Department,  and  also  be- 
tween the  delegates  of  the  commission  and  the  Confederate  authori- 
ties, see  Annals  of  Christian  Commission,  Moss,  pp.  189-198. 

The  note  informing  the  committee  of  the  Confederate  authori- 
ties '  refusal  to  permit  the  visiting  of  Union  prisoners  is  as  follows : 

Office  U.  S.  Assistant  Agent  for  Exchange  of  Prisoners. 

Flag  of  Truce  Steamer  New  York. 
Varina,  James  River,  Va.,  Jan.  21,  1865. 

Eev.  Bishop  E.  S.  Janes,  D.  D. 
Et.  Eev.  Bishop  Alfred  Lee,  D.  D. 
Horatio  Gates  Jones. 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  am  directed 
by  the  Confederate  authorities  to  notify  you  that  they  deem  it  in- 
expedient to  grant  your  request  for  permission  to  visit  the  Federal 
prisoners  held  by  them,  at  this  time.  Your  communication  will 
doubtless  be  answered  by  letter  at  my  next  interview  with  the  Con- 
federate agent  for  exchange.  If  so,  I  will  promptly  forward  the 
same  to  you.    I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Jno.  E.  Mulford, 
Lt.  Col.  $•  V.  S.  Assistant  Agent  for  Exchange. 

22  Minutes  New  York  East  Conference,  1863,  p.  8. 

23  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Oct.  22,  1862. 

150 


The  War  Bishops. 


dered  the  largest  and  most  effective  service  for  their 
country.  The  work  of  Bishop  Simpson  is  perhaps  more 
widely  known  than  that  of  Bishop  Ames,  due,  no  doubt, 
to  his  excellent  biography  written  by  Dr.  George  R. 
Crooks,  and  also  to  the  fame  which  he  achieved  as  an 
orator  and  great  preacher.  But  the  patriotic  work  of 
Bishop  Ames  was  not  any  less  than  that  of  Simpson, 
and  it  is  unfortunate  that  no  life  of  him  has  ever  been 
written.24 

Bishop  Ames  lived  in  Indianapolis  during  the  war, 
which  was  the  very  center  of  a  large  and  growing  Meth- 
odist population,  and  from  the  opening  of  the  war  he 
took  a  prominent  part  in  all  kinds  of  patriotic  activity. 
In  April,  1861,  we  find  him  preaching  at  Camp  Morton 
before  the  soldiers25  and  in  the  course  of  his  sermon 
uttering  these  eloquent  words:  "There  has  been  one 
grand  Union  convention,  the  proceedings  of  which  have 
not  been  reported  by  the  telegraph.  It  was  held  amid 
the  fastnesses  of  the  everlasting  hills.  The  Rocky  Moun- 
tains presided  and  the  mighty  Mississippi  River  made 
the  motion  and  the  Allegheny  Mountains  seconded  it, 
and  every  -mountain  and  hill  and  river  and  valley  in 
this  vast  country  sent  up  a  unanimous  voice — Resolved, 
That  we  are  one  and  inseparable,  and  what  God  has 
joined  together  no  man  shall  put  asunder." 

Bishop  Ames  was  the  only  Methodist  bishop  who  was 
appointed  to  the  post  of  chaplain  in  the  army.  He  be- 
came chaplain  of  an  Indiana  regiment,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1861  he  announced  his  intention  of  devoting  his  at- 
tention during  the  ensuing  winter  to  the  moral  and  re- 
ligious interests  of  the  soldiers  in  camp.26.  This  inten- 
tion he  seems  to  have  carried  out,  for  from  time  to  time 

24  The  writer  made  an  effort  to  locate  the  private  papers  of 
Bishop  Ames,  but  all  his  efforts  proved  of  no  avail. 

25  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  May  6,  1861,  quoted  from  the 
Indiana  American. 

26  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Oct.  31,  1861. 

151 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


during  the  winter  of  1861-62  we  find  records  of  his 
having  preached  to  the  soldiers  in  the  various  camps 
and  forts.27 

Not  only  was  Bishop  Ames  active  in  serving  his 
country  in  a  private  capacity,  but  on  several  occasions 
his  services  were  sought  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. In  January,  1862,  Bishop  Ames  and  Hon.  Ham- 
ilton Fish,  of  New  York,  were  appointed  by  the  War 
Department  as  commissioners  to  visit  the  Union  pris- 
oners at  Richmond  .  .  .  and  elsewhere  .  .  .  and  re- 
lieve their  necessities  and  provide  for  their  comfort,  at 
the  expense  of  the  United  States."28  This  appointment 
was  accepted  by  Bishop  Ames,  and  he  immediately  made 
his  way  to  Washington  to  confer  with  the  Secretary  of 
War,  Mr.  Stanton,  regarding  his  duties  as  commis- 
sioner.29 The  War  Department  made  provision  to  estab- 
lish a  depot  of  clothing  at  Fortress  Monroe,  to  be  drawn 
upon  by  these  commissioners30  for  supplying  the  wants  of 
the  prisoners.  The  commissioners  went  immediately  to 
Fortress  Monroe  and  made  known  their  commissions  to 
the  Confederate  authorities  at  Norfolk,  by  whom  the 
matter  was  referred  to  Richmond.  A  reply  finally  came 
refusing  to  admit  the  commissioners  through  the  Con- 
federate lines,31  but  expressing  readiness  to  negotiate 
for  the  general  exchange  of  prisoners.  The  commission- 
ers then  opened  negotiations,  which  resulted  in  an  equal 
exchange  of  prisoners.  But  the  Confederates  having 
three  hundred  more  prisoners  than  the  National  Govern- 
ment, they  proposed  to  release  these  on  parole  if  the 
United  States  Government  would  agree  to  release  three 

27  Ibid,  Feb.  13,  1862. 

28  "Official  Becords,"  Series  II.  vol.  iii,  p.  113. 

29  Ibid,  p.  216. 

30  Ibid,  p.  222.  For  other  orders  and  correspondence  relating  to 
these  commissioners  see  ibid,  pp.  223-224,  230,  248,  251,  253, 
261,  262. 

31  For  all  Confederate  correspondence  relating  to  these  negoti- 
ations and  to  this  commission  see  ' '  Official  Eecords, ' '  Series  II. 
vol.  iii,  pp.  786-791,  821,  822. 

152 


The  War  Bishops. 


hundred  of  their  men  that  might  next  fall  into  its 
hands.32 

The  appointment  of  this  commission,  and  especially 
the  placing  of  Bishop  Ames  upon  it,  aroused  considerable 
comment  in  the  South.  The  Norfolk  Day-Book  has  this 
to  say  of  the  appointment  of  this  commission:  "The 
exquisite  modesty  of  this  proposition  to  send  official 
inspectors  of  our  defenses  and  general  condition  entitle 
Mr.  Stanton  to  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  impu- 
dent man  among  all  King  Lincoln's  proverbially  impu- 
dent subjects. ',33  Relating  to  Bishop  Ames's  appoint- 
ment, I  have  found  a  very  interesting  letter  to  Jefferson 
Davis,  written  by  an  officer  in  the  Confederate  army, 
who  was  also  an  ex-minister  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.34  He  writes  this  letter  to  warn  Mr.  Davis 
against  allowing  Bishop  Ames  to  enter  the  Confederate 
lines.  He  says  he  knows  Bishop  Ames,  and  that  "he 
has  been  for  many  years  a  shrewd  and  patent  politi- 
cian." He  then  reviews  the  recent  controversy  within 
the  Methodist  Church,  especially  along  the  border,  and 
then  states:  "In  all  this  protracted  controversy  Bishop 
Ames's  sympathies,  and  indeed  most  of  our  bishops', 
were  with  the  North.  I  know  Bishop  Ames  to  be  an 
uncompromising  anti-slavery  man,  not  to  say  abolitionist. 
He,  with  other  members  of  the  bench  of  bishops,  sought 
to  impress  upon  the  present  President  of  the  United 
States  and  his  Cabinet,  upon  their  accession  to  power,  the 
fact  that  the  Methodist  Church,  very  numerous  in  the 
North  and  West,  had  peculiar  claims  upon  the  Govern- 
ment for  a  liberal  share  of  the  spoils  of  office,  as  they 
had  so  largely  contributed  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  election." 
Further  on  he  states:  "I  am  positively  certain  from 
personal  knowledge  that  Bishop  Ames,  with  many  others 

32 Moore's  "Rebellion  Record, "  vol.  iv,  p.  32. 

33  From  the  issue  of  January  30,  1862.  Moore's  "Rebellion  Rec- 
ord," vol.  iv,  p.  18. 

34  For  the  text  of  this  letter  see  ' '  Official  Records, ' '  Series  II, 
vol.  iii,  p.  787,  788.    See  Appendix  B. 

153 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


whom  I  might  name  of  high  position  in  our  Church  in  the 
North,  have  aided  most  fearfully,  by  the  influence  of 
their  position  and  their  known  sentiments  to  augment 
the  power  of  the  abolition  party  in  the  North. ' '  And  in 
conclusion  he  makes  this  appeal:  "Allow  me,  in  conclu- 
sion, Mr.  President,  to  warn  you  against  this  astute 
politician,  who  in  the  garb  of  a  Christian  minister  and 
with  the  specious  plea  of  'Humanity'  upon  his  lips, 
would  insinuate  himself  into  the  very  heart  of  that  Gov- 
ernment whose  very  foundation  he  would  most  gladly 
sap  and  destroy." 

Whether  this  letter  had  any  influence  in  the  decision 
of  the  Confederate  Government  in  respect  to  these  com- 
missioners, is  impossible  to  determine,  but  it  serves  to 
show  the  feeling  in  the  South  concerning  Bishop  Ames 
and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

That  Bishop  Ames  was  trusted  by  the  Federal  author- 
ities, and  especially  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  is  further 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  August  of  1862  Governor 
Morton,  of  Indiana,  intrusted  him  to  carry  certain  im- 
portant letters  to  Stanton35  respecting  drafts. 

Bishop  Ames,  like  the  other  bishops,  also  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  patriotic  demonstrations  at  the 
various  Conferences  over  which  he  presided,  making 
patriotic  speeches  and  offering  patriotic  prayers.36  In 
the  General  Conference  of  1864,  which  met  in  Philadel- 
phia, he  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed 
by  that  body  to  carry  an  address  to  President  Lincoln,37 
thus  recognizing  him  as  the  Church's  leader  in  her  pa- 
triotic activities. 

There  remains  yet  for  us  to  consider  Bishop  Matthew 
Simpson's  large  and  important  activity  in  relation  to 
this  struggle.    In  many  respects  his  is  the  most  con- 

35  "Official  Kecords,"  Series  III,  vol.  ii,  p.  375. 

38  Minutes  Detroit  Conference,  1861 ;  also  New  York  East  Con- 
ference, 1865,  pp.  3,  4. 

37  General  Conference  Journal,  1864,  p.  378.  For  the  address 
and  Lincoln 's  reply  see  Chapter  IV. 

154 


The  War  Bishops. 


spicuous  Methodist  name  in  relation  to  the  war  and 
the  Nation.  His  intimate  personal  friendship  with  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  and  also  with  other  members  of  the  Cabi- 
net, and  his  overwhelming  patriotic  eloquence,  has  given 
his  name  lasting  connection  with  the  Civil  War. 

I  can  do  no  better  here  than  to  reproduce  some  of 
the  testimony  which  has  been  collected  by  Dr.  Crooks 
in  his  life  of  Bishop  Simpson.  The  first  I  quote  is 
from  the  recollections  of  Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk: 

In  April,  1861,  after  the  call  for  75,000  men,  the 
bishop  met  Lincoln  in  the  President's  office.  Several 
members  of  the  Cabinet  dropped  in,  Bates,  Blair,  Cam- 
eron, and  Seward.  The  bishop  expressed  the  opinion 
that  75,000  men  were  but  a  beginning  of  the  number 
needed;  that  the  struggle  would  be  long  and  severe. 
Mr.  Seward  asked  what  opportunity  a  clergyman  could 
have  to  judge  such  affairs  as  these.  Judge  Bates  replied 
that  few  men  knew  so  much  of  the  temper  of  the  people 
as  Bishop  Simpson;  Montgomery  Blair  sustained  the 
view  of  Judge  Bates.  A  Cabinet  meeting  followed. 
After  it  was  over,  Lincoln  and  Simpson  remained  to- 
gether quite  a  long  time.  The  bishop  gave  him,  in  de- 
tail, his  opinion  of  men  throughout  the  country  whom 
he  knew. 

After  Mr.  Stanton  came  into  the  Cabinet  the  bishop 's 
relations  with  the  President  became  more  intimate.  The 
bishop  was  used  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  modify  the  war  sec- 
retary's views,  and  to  gain  points  which  he  wished  to 
reach.  For  instance:  Stanton  was  disposed  to  treat 
with  great  severity  the  border  rebels  who  stayed  at  home 
and  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy.  Lincoln  was 
inclined  to  treat  them  leniently.  The  bishop  was  of  the 
same  mind  as  the  President,  and  was  sent  to  Stanton 
to  bring  him  over  to  the  President's  way  of  thinking. 


In  the  summer  of  this  same  year,  1862,  the  bishop 
had  another  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  confined  to  the 
point  of  the  President's  duty  to  issue  a  proclamation 
setting  the  slaves  free  in  the  rebellious  States.  Subse- 
quently Mr.  Lincoln  showed  him  the  proclamation;  the 
bishop  was  delighted  with  it.   When  it  was  read  in  the 

155 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


Cabinet  meeting,  Mr.  Chase  suggested  its  last  sentence. 
"Why/'  replied  Lincoln,  "that  is  just  what  Bishop 
Simpson  said. ' '  In  their  interview  prior  to  the  meeting 
of  the  Cabinet  the  bishop  had  suggested  that  there  ought 
to  be  a  recognition  of  God  in  that  important  paper.38 

I  reproduce  also  here  the  personal  recollections  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Bowman,  who  was  chaplain  of  the  Senate  in 
1864-65,  and  who  writes  from  personal  observation: 

In  1864-65,  as  I  spent  several  months  in  Washington, 
I  often  heard  members  of  Congress  and  other  distin- 
guished visitors  in  the  city  say  that  they  had  heard 
the  President  frequently  express  his  great  respect  for, 
and  his  confidence  in,  Bishop  Simpson.  It  was  well 
known  that  the  President  occasionally  sent  for  the 
bishop,  in  order  to  procure  information  about  the  affairs 
of  the  Nation.  The  President  said  in  substance :  ' '  Bishop 
Simpson  is  a  wise  and  thoughtful  man.  He  travels  ex- 
tensively over  the  country,  and  sees  things  as  they  are. 
He  has  no  ax  to  grind,  and  therefore  I  can  depend  upon 
him  for  such  information  as  I  need." 

On  one  occasion,  with  two  or  three  friends,  I  was 
conversing  with  Mr.  Lincoln  near  the  distant  window 
in  the  Blue  Room,  when  unexpectedly  the  door  opened 
and  Bishop  Simpson  entered.  Immediately  the  Presi- 
dent raised  both  arms  and  started  for  the  bishop,  almost 
on  a  run.  When  he  reached  him  he  grasped  him  with 
both  hands  and  exclaimed,  "Why,  Bishop  Simpson,  how 
glad  I  am  to  see  you ! "  In  a  few  moments  we  retired, 
and  left  them  alone.  I  afterwards  learned  that  they 
spent  several  hours  in  private,  and  that  this  was  one 
of  the  times  when  the  bishop  had  been  specially  asked 
by  the  President  to  come  to  Washington  for  such  an 
interview. 

At  another  time,  under  very  different  circumstances, 
I  had  an  opportunity  to  witness  the  kind  feeling  which 
the  President  evidently  cherished  for  the  bishop.  Simp- 
son delivered  his  wonderful  lecture  on  "Our  Country" 
in  one  of  our  churches  in  Washington.  Lincoln,  with- 
out any  mark  of  distinction,  was  in  the  great  crowd  of 
hearers.    I  happened  to  be  near  him,  and  could  see  his 

38  Crooks 's  "Life  of  Simpson/ '  pp.  373,  374. 

156 


The  War  Bishops. 


every  movement.  I  never  saw  a  hearer  who  gave  more 
marked  evidence  of  a  personal  interest  in  a  speaker  than 
the  President  gave  that  evening.  He  joined  most 
heartily  in  the  frequent  and  sometimes  prolonged  ap- 
plause. At  one  time,  as  the  bishop  was  speaking  of  the 
wonderful  opportunity  that  our  country  affords  to  young 
men,  he  paused  for  a  moment,  and  said,  ' 'Why,  it  is 
commonly  reported  that  a  rail-splitter  has  been  elected 
President  of  the  United  States!"  This,  of  course, 
brought  down  the  house,  and  I  was  particularly  pleased 
to  see  with  what  almost  boyish  enthusiasm  the  President 
joined  in  the  tremendous  applause.30 

Bishop  Simpson  was  probably  the  most  eloquent 
preacher  in  the  Methodist  denomination,  and  deserves 
to  rank  with  the  greatest  in  the  country. 

In  a  sermon  delivered  in  Chicago  in  the  first  year 
of  the  war,  occurs  this  sentence:  "We  will  take  our 
glorious  flag — the  flag  of  our  country — and  nail  it  just 
below  the  cross !  There  let  it  wave,  as  it  waved  of  old. 
Around  it  let  us  gather:  First  Christ's,  and  then  our 
country 's. '  '40 

The  most  conspicuous  oratorical  efforts  of  Bishop 
Simpson  during  the  war,  however,  were  not  sermons, 
but  lectures  on  patriotic  themes.  The  effect  of  these 
lectures  upon  his  hearers  was  often  marvelous.  In  1864 
he  delivered  one  of  his  lectures  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  and 
a  college  president  who  heard  it  stated  afterwards,  "The 
Government  should  employ  that  man  to  visit  all  the 
principal  cities  in  the  loyal  States  and  pronounce  that 
discourse;  it  would  bring  down  the  price  of  gold."41 
Harper's  Weekly  thus  describes  the  effect  of  his  lecture 
which  he  delivered  in  Pittsburgh  in  October,  1864: 
"The  effect  of  his  discourse  is  described  as  very  re- 
markable. Toward  the  close  an  eye-witness  says:  'Lay- 
ing his  hand  on  the  torn  and  ball-riddled  colors  of  the 

39  Crooks 's  "Life  of  Simpson,"  pp.  371-373. 

40  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  May  23,  1861. 

41  Western  Christian  Advocate,  August  31,  1864. 

157 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Seventy-third  Ohio,  he  spoke  of  the  battlefields  where 
they  had  been  baptized  in  blood,  and  described  their 
beauty  as  some  small  patch  of  azure,  filled  with  stars, 
that  an  angel  had  snatched  from  the  heavenly  canopy 
to  set  the  stripes  in  blood.  With  this  description  began 
a  scene  that  Demosthenes  might  have  envied.  All  over 
the  vast  assembly  handkerchiefs  and  hats  were  waved, 
and  before  the  speaker  sat  down  the  whole  throng  arose 
as  if  by  magic  influence,  and  screamed,  and  shouted,  and 
saluted,  and  stamped,  and  clapped,  and  wept,  and 
laughed  in  wild  excitement.  Colonel  Moody  sprang  to 
the  top  of  a  bench  and  called  for  "The  Star-Spangled 
Banner,"  which  was  sung,  or  rather  shouted,  until  the 
audience  dispersed.'  "42 

This  great  speech  of  Bishop  Simpson  played  a  rather 
conspicuous  part  in  the  campaign  of  1864.  It  was  ar- 
ranged to  have  the  lecture  delivered  in  New  York  just  be- 
fore the  Presidential  election.  Mr.  "Ward  Hoyt,  who  had 
the  preparation  for  the  meeting  in  charge,  thus  writes 
to  Bishop  Simpson:  "All  of  your  friends  agree  that 
you  should  speak  before  the  election.  Speaking  at  that 
time,  until  the  full  report,  promised  in  the  Tribune, 
Times,  Herald,  and  Evening  Post,  is  equivalent  to  speak- 
ing to  the  Nation."  The  speech  was  accordingly  de- 
livered on  November  3,  1864,  in  the  Academy  of  Music, 
New  York.  Of  the  great  mass  of  people  who  came  to 
hear  it,  the  New  York  Tribune  states:  "Such  an  audience 
gathered  at  the  Academy  of  Music  as  seldom  or  never 
before  was  crowded  within  its  walls.  Long  before  the 
time  announced  for  the  lecture  to  commence,  the  spa- 
cious building  was  crowded  from  pit  to  dome — the  seats 
were  soon  filled,  the  standing  room  all  taken  up,  and 
still  the  crowd  poured  in  till  no  more  room  was  left 
in  which  to  squeeze  another  person."43 

42  Harper's  Weekly,  October  15,  1864,  p.  659. 

43 New  York  Tribune,  Nov.  7,  1864.  Quoted  in  Crooks 's  "Life 
of  Simpson,"  pp.  378,  379.  For  an  outline  of  this  great  lecture 
see  Appendix  C. 

158 


The  War  Bishops. 


That  Bishop  Simpson  was  close  to  President  Lincoln 
is  further  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he  was  chosen  to 
give  the  funeral  oration  over  the  body  of  the  great  mar- 
tyred President  at  Springfield,  111.44 

During  the  early  part  of  the  war  Bishop  Simpson 
lived  in  Evanston,  111.,  but  during  the  last  year  of  the 
war  he  changed  his  residence  to  Philadelphia.  After 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  Philadelphia  he  became  very 
actively  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  Christian  Commis- 
sion, delivering  speeches  on  several  occasions,45  one  of 
them  being  the  closing  anniversary  of  the  commission, 
where  he  delivered  the  closing  address.46  He  was  also 
elected  one  of  five  trustees  to  close  up  the  affairs  of  the 
commission  after  its  work  was  completed. 

In  the  General  Conference  of  1864  there  were  three 
new  bishops  elected:  Edward  Thomson,  Charles  Kings- 
ley,  and  D.  W.  Clark;  but  as  their  work  as  bishops  of 
the  Church  covered  less  than  a  year  of  the  war,  and  as 
the  work  of  each  of  them  in  relation  to  the  war  has 
already  received  full  treatment  in  the  chapter  on  Church 
Periodicals,  I  have  chosen  to  conclude  the  study  of  the 
war  bishops  with  Bishop  Simpson. 

I  close  this  chapter  with  a  quotation  from  an  address 
by  Dr.  J.  P.  Newman,  afterwards  himself  a  bishop,  de- 
livered in  New  Orleans,  March  22,  1864,  in  which  he 
makes  what  Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay  term  a  well- 
founded  claim  :47  ' '  The  Methodist  Church  has  been  unan- 
imous and  zealous  in  the  defense  of  the  Union.  Her 
bishops,  her  ministers,  and  her  laity  have  nobly  responded 
to  the  call  of  their  country  in  this  hour  of  her  peril. 
The  voice  of  Simpson  has  been  heard  pleading  eloquently 
for  the  union  of  the  country.  Ames,  as  patriotic  as  wise, 
has  not  hesitated  to  lend  his  aid  to  our  unfortunate  pris- 

44  For  the  funeral  oration  see  Appendix  D. 

45  Annals  of  the  Christian  Commission,  Moss,  p.  132. 

48  Ibid,  pp.  271-279.  For  the  other  speeches  and  proceedings  on 
this  occasion,  held  Feb.  11,  1866,  see  ibid,  pp.  234-288. 

47 ' '  Life  of  Lincoln, ' '  Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  vi,  p.  324,  Note. 

159 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


oners  in  Richmond,  and  to  give  his  sons  to  the  army. 
Janes  has  found  no  narrow  field  for  his  philanthropic 
heart  in  the  labors  of  the  Christian  Commission.  All 
our  Church  papers  and  periodicals  have  given  an  uncom- 
promising, zealous,  persistent  support  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  have  thrown  the  whole  weight  of  their  influ- 
ence, intelligent  as  it  was  potent,  on  the  side  of  the 
Union."48 

48  McPherson 's  <  '  Eebellion, "  pp.  523,  524. 


160 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Methodist  Co-operation  With  Interdenomina- 
tional Organizations. 

A  study  of  the  activities  of  a  Church  in  its  relation 
to  the  Civil  War  would  be  incomplete  without  it  takes 
into  consideration  some  of  the  great  interdenominational, 
charitable,  and  semi-religious  organizations  which  sprang 
up  during  the  war  to  meet  the  various  needs  and  emer- 
gencies which  the  new  conditions  presented.  At  least 
three  such  organizations  will  be  the  subject  of  our  con- 
sideration in  the  course  of  this  chapter.  They  are  the 
United  States  Christian  Commission,  the  American  Bible 
Society,  and  the  various  Freedmen's  organizations  and 
commissions,  which  sprang  up  in  considerable  numbers 
in  all  parts  of  the  North. 

The  work  of  all  these  various  organizations  has  re- 
ceived full  treatment  in  other  places,  but  the  object  of 
this  study  is  to  show  how  individual  Churches  co- 
operated with  and  worked  through  them. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  CHRISTIAN  COMMISSION. 

The  United  States  Christian  Commission  was  organ- 
ized at  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  New 
York,  November  14,  1861.1  Previous  to  this  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  the  various  cities  had 
been  active  in  providing  supplies  and  comforts  for  the 
new  recruits,  and  also  individual  Churches,  through  their 
local  organizations,  had  done  the  same.  The  idea  of 
uniting  these  various  agencies  into  one  organization  was 

Annals  of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission,  Moss,  p. 
103. 

11  161 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


suggested  by  Mr.  Vincent  Collyer,  of  New  York,  who 
had  been  engaged  in  this  kind  of  work  among  the  soldiers 
enlisted  in  New  York  City  or  passing  through  it  on  their 
way  to  the  front.2 

This  organizing  convention  elected  twelve  men  as  a 
commission,  including  four  ministers,  representing  the 
various  denominations,  Bishop  Edmund  S.  Janes,  D.  D., 
of  New  York,  being  the  Methodist  representative.3  The 
commission  afterwards  was  enlarged  to  forty-seven, 
Bishop  Matthew  Simpson  and  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk, 
besides  Bishop  Janes,  being  among  the  Methodist  mem- 
bers of  this  enlarged  commission;  these  three  also  being 
members  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  work  of  the  Christian  Commission  has  been  fully 
described  in  the  1 1  Annals  of  the  United  States  Christian 
Commission,"  by  Rev.  Lemuel  Moss,  and  in  " Incidents 
of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission,"  by  Rev. 
Edward  P.  Smith.  During  the  four  years,  1862,  '63, 
'64,  and  '65,  the  commission  received  in  cash  $2,524,- 
512.56,  most  of  which  was  obtained  by  public  collections 
in  churches  and  at  special  meetings.  The  commission 
sent  out  its  appeal  to  the  ministers  and  Churches  through 
the  Church  papers,  as  the  commission  published  no  organ 
of  its  own.4 

As  an  example  of  the  readiness  with  which  people 
contributed  money  to  the  commission,  I  relate  the  follow- 
ing incidents :  In  the  village  of  Curwensville,  Clearfield 
County,  Pa.,  a  meeting  was  held  on  Thanksgiving  Day, 
1863,  attended  by  about  150  people,  and  addressed  by 
the  Methodist  minister.   A  collection  was  taken  for  the 

2  "Life  of  George  H.  Stuart,"  K.  E.  Thompson,  p.  129. 

3  Annals  of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission,  p.  106. 
The  original  members  of  the  commission  were  Rev.  Rollin  H.  Neale, 
D.D.,  and  Chas.  Demond,  Boston;  John  H.  Hill,  Buffalo;  John  V. 
Farwell,  Chicago;  Eev.  L.  M.  R.  P.  Thompson,  H.  Thane  Miller, 
Cincinnati;  Rev.  S.  H.  Tvng,  D.  D.,  Benj.  F.  Manierre,  and  Rev. 
Bishop  E.  S.  Janes,  New  York;  Geo.  H.  Stuart  and  John  P.  Cro- 
zier,  Philadelphia;  Mitchell  H.  Miller,  Washington. 

4  Ibid,  p.  522. 

162 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 


commission  amounting  to  $600,  and  in  the  following  May 
another  meeting,  in  the  same  place,  contributed  $857.25, 
and  still  later  a  resident  of  the  same  village  sent  $1,000 
to  the  commission.5  The  largest  single  contribution 
given  to  the  commission  was  secured  by  Rev.  C.  C. 
McCabe,  a  Methodist  minister,  who  had  been  a  chaplain 
of  an  Ohio  regiment,  captured  and  confined  in  Libby 
Prison,  and  during  the  closing  years  of  the  war  acted 
as  an  agent  of  the  Christian  Commission.  This  gift 
amounted  to  $10,000  and  was  given  by  a  farmer,  Mr. 
Jacob  Straw,  of  Morgan  County,  111.6 

Public  collections  for  the  commission  were  quite  gen- 
erally taken  in  the  churches  on  the  several  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days  which  were  observed  during  the  war. 
The  receipts  from  Thanksgiving  collections  in  November, 
1863,  alone,  amounted  to  $83,400.7 

The  Churches  not  only  co-operated  with  the  commis- 
sion by  giving  liberally  toward  its  support,  but  also  by 
sending  "delegates"  into  the  field.  Delegate  was  the 
name  given  a  person  sent  out  to  the  army  by  the  Chris- 
tian Commission.  Their  duties  were  to  visit  "hospitals, 
camps,  and  battlefields  for  the  instruction,  supply,  and 
encouragement  and  relief  of  the  men  of  our  army  ac- 
cording to  their  various  circumstances;  distributing 
stores  where  needed  in  hospitals  and  camps ;  circulating 
good  publications  amongst  our  soldiers  and  sailors;  aid- 
ing chaplains  in  looking  after  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
the  men  in  camp  and  in  the  hospitals;  encouraging  and 
helping  soldiers  to  communicate  with  their  friends,  and, 
if  necessary,  writing  for  them;  discouraging  vice  of 
every  kind.  They  were  also  to  aid  surgeons  on  the 
battlefield  by  removing  the  wounded  and  giving  them 
food  and  drink,  giving  them  religious  comfort  if  dying, 

5  Moss,  pp.  524,  525. 

6  Ibid,  p.  525.  Chaplain  McCabe  tells  how  he  obtained  this 
large  gift  in  "Life  of  McCabe,' '  Bristol,  pp.  175-180.  Taken 
from  McCabe 's  Journal. 

7  Mois,  p.  525. 

163 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


and  to  see  that  the  dead  had  Christian  burial.8  I  find 
the  following  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Philadelphia  Preach- 
ers' Meeting  in  1862:  "A  request  from  George  R.  Stuart 
was  read,  asking  that  ministers  and  laymen  volunteer  to 
go  to  the  seat  of  war  near  Washington  to  minister  to 
the  sick  and  wounded."  The  Minutes  record  that  a 
committee  was  then  appointed  to  confer  with  Mr.  Stuart 
(president  of  the  Christian  Commission),  and  also  that 
fifteen  ministers  offered  themselves  to  go  to  the  front. 

These  delegates  volunteered  their  services  and  worked 
without  pay.  Among  them  were  a  large  number  of  min- 
isters, representing  all  Protestant  communions.  These 
ministerial  "delegates"  were  called  chaplains  by  the 
soldiers,  and  they  performed  very  much  the  same  sort 
of  service  as  a  chaplain ;  they  held  religious  services,  dis- 
tributed tracts  and  other  religious  literature ;  comforted 
the  dying,  and  buried  the  dead.  The  number  of  minis- 
ters from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  who  served 
as  delegates  under  the  Christian  Commission  during  the 
war  is  as  follows : 


1862    20 

1863    77 

1864    244 

1865    117 


Total   4589 


The  Tract  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
co-operated  with  the  United  States  Christian  Commission 
in  furnishing  tracts  for  distribution  among  the  soldiers 
and  sailors.  I  quote  from  the  Report  of  the  Committee 
on  Tracts  of  the  Cincinnati  Conference  for  1862,  to 
show  the  increased  effort  made  by  the  Church  to  meet 

8 For  full  information  concerning  "delegates"  of  the  United 
States  Christian  Commission  see  Moss,  pp.  541,  542. 

9  The  whole  number  of  delegates  who  served  under  the  Chris- 
tian Commission  during  the  war  was  4,119.  About  two-thirds  of 
this  number  were  laymen,  a  large  number  being  physicians  and 
nurses. 


164 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 


this  new  demand :  ' 1  The  organization  of  the  great  armies 
of  the  United  States  has  created  an  increased  necessity 
for  an  enlarged  liberality  and  a  much  more  zealous  and 
combined  effort  in  this  good  work."  The  report  goes 
on  to  state  that  "the  soldiers  generally  receive  with 
eagerness  the  tracts  offered  them,  especially  the  wounded 
and  sick. ' '  The  report  closes  by  asking  each  preacher  to 
take  a  collection  during  the  year  for  the  tract  cause, 
and  also  to  encourage  the  people  to  give  more  liberally.10 
The  report  is  typical  of  many  other  reports  to  the 
various  Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Church  during  the 
war,  and  an  examination  of  the  report  of  the  Tract  So- 
ciety of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  from  1862  to 
1865,  shows  a  considerable  gain  in  gifts  each  successive 
year  for  tract  distribution. 


Most  of  the  Conferences  at  their  various  sessions 
held  during  the  war  passed  resolutions  commending  the 
Christian  Commission.  The  following  are  those  passed 
by  the  Newark  Conference  in  1864,  which  are  typical 
of  the  others: 

Resolved,  That  in  the  Christian  Commission  we  rec- 
ognize an  organization  eminently  humane,  patriotic,  and 
Christian  in  its  design;  abundant  and  efficient  in  its 
labors  in  behalf  of  the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  our 
soldiers,  in  the  field  and  in  the  hospital,  and  that  we 
commend  it  to  the  confidence  and  liberality  of  all  who 
love  God  and  souls — all  who  love  their  country  and 
have  a  regard  for  the  noble  men  who  face  wounds  and 
death  for  us. 

Resolved,  That  the  preachers  on  the  several  districts 
will  keep  one  of  their  number  in  the  service  of  the  Chris- 

10  Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1862,  p.  12.  Also  Minutes 
New  York  East  Conference,  1864,  p.  38. 

"General  Minutes  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  1862- 


1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 


$11,679  49 
12,534  46 
17,198  04 
22,322  4011 


1865. 


165 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


tian  Commission  all  the  time  that  the  exigencies  of  the 
army  require,  and  that  the  other  brethren  of  the  district 
will  supply  his  appointments  during  his  absence;  that 
the  presiding  elder  of  the  district  and  two  others  whom 
the  preachers  of  the  district  shall  elect,  shall  be  a  com- 
mittee to  superintend  the  arrangements  necessary  in 
carrying  out  the  foregoing  proposition.12 

In  many  instances  the  Conference  indorsed  the  Sani- 
tary Commission  as  well  as  the  Christian  Commission, 
and  many  of  the  Churches  were  active  in  co-operating 
with  it  also.13 

THE  AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY. 

Unlike  the  Christian  Commission,  the  American  Bible 
Society  did  not  originate  with  the  war,  but  had  already 
had  a  long  and  useful  life  before  the  war  began,  having 
been  organized  in  1816.  Our  interest  in  it  here  is  to 
see  how  this  society  contributed  to  the  welfare  of  the 
army  and  navy,  and  also  to  see  how  the  Churches  co- 
operated with  it  in  this  work. 

The  opportunity  of  supplying  the  troops  with  the 
Bible  was  early  seized  by  the  society,  and  its  activities 
in  connection  with  the  army  and  navy  began  with  the 
very  opening  of  the  war.  In  the  summer  of  1861, 
400,000  copies  of  the  Bible  were  delivered  for  distribu- 
tion to  the  volunteer  troops,  and  also  twenty-four  vessels 
of  the  blockading  fleet  were  supplied.14  To  meet  this 
increased  demand  occasioned  by  the  war,  the  society 
had  necessarily  to  increase  its  funds,  and  to  do  this 
more  agents  must  be  appointed  to  go  among  the  Churches 
and  solicit,  and  appeals  for  the  society  were  at  various 
times  issued  through  the  Church  papers. 

An  examination  of  the  statistics  of  the  Methodist 

"Minutes  Newark  Conference,  1864,  p.  38.  For  similar  reso- 
lutions see  Minutes  Troy  Conference,  1865,  p.  45;  Pittsburgh  Con- 
ference, 1865,  p.  30 ;  Cincinnati  Conference,  1863,  p.  33. 

"Minutes  Indiana  Conference,  1864,  p.  6;  Newark  Conference, 
1864,  pp.  37,  38. 

14  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Oct.  23,  1861. 

166 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 


Church  for  the  four  years  of  the  war  show  a  considerable 
increase  in  the  number  of  agents  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  from  that  Church. 

To  show  the  magnitude  of  the  work  accomplished  by 
the  Bible  Society  in  connection  with  the  war  I  give  a 
summary  of  the  report  for  the  year  1864.  From  April 
1,  1863,  until  March  1,  1864,  the  receipts  of  the  society 
amounted  to  $429,464.12,  and  during  this  year  994,473 
volumes  of  the  Bible  alone  were  distributed,  5,000  Tes- 
taments were  sent  to  Richmond  for  Union  prisoners, 
20,000  volumes  were  sent  to  the  Confederate  army  un- 
der General  J.  E.  Johnston,  50,000  volumes  were  sent 
to  General  Bragg 's  army  in  the  Southwest,  100,000  vol- 
umes were  sent  to  the  Board  of  Colportage,  of  North 
Carolina,  and  besides  these  large  grants  the  Christian 
Commission  distributed  over  a  half  million  volumes  in 
the  Union  army  and  navy  and  the  various  hospitals.15 

From  the  above  report  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Bible 
Society  did  not  confine  its  work  to  the  Union  troops, 
but  grants  were  made  all  through  the  war  to  the  South- 
ern armies,  and  also  to  local  Southern  Bible  Societies. 
In  1863,  30,000  volumes  were  given  to  the  Virginia  Bible 
Society,  and  in  August,  1863,  25,000  Testaments  were 
granted  to  the  Southern  Baptist  Sunday  School  Board 
for  use  in  the  South.16 

The  Bible  Society  and  the  United  States  Christian 
Commission  worked  together  in  the  distribution  of  re- 
ligious literature  in  the  armies;  indeed,  the  Bible  So- 
ciety depended  upon  the  delegates  of  the  Christian  Com- 
mission and  regular  chaplains  entirely  for  such  work. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  marked  increase  in  the 
gifts  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States  to 
the  American  Bible  Society  during  the  course  of  the 
war,  showing  that  the  Churches  were  fully  aroused  to 

15  General  Conference  Journal,  1864,  pp.  437-439.  Also  Minutes 
New  England  Conference,  1864,  p.  30. 

"Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1863,  pp.  26-29. 

167 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


the  best  interests  of  the  armies  and  navies.  The  gifts 
by  years  are  as  follows: 

1862   $36,187 

1863    55,685 

1864    78,780 

1865    101,74317 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  co-operated  also 
with  the  American  Temperance  Union  in  sending  tem- 
perance tracts  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors.  This  work 
was  carried  on  largely  through  the  Sunday  schools.  In 
1863  it  was  reported  that  "nearly  500  Sunday  schools 
had  sent  from  1,000  to  10,000  tracts  each."18 


ORGANIZATIONS  FOR  THE  AID  OF  FREEDMEN. 

It  will  be  profitable  in  this  connection,  in  order  to 
get  the  situation  clearly  before  us,  to  review  briefly  the 
attitude  of  those  in  authority,  during  the  war,  toward 
the  Negroes,  and  also  the  efforts  on  the  part  of  military 
commanders  and  others  to  meet  the  vast  problem  pre- 
sented by  the  Negro  population  in  the  Southern  States. 
The  contact  of  the  Union  armies  with  the  slave  popula- 
tion as  they  invaded  the  South  naturally  unsettled  them, 
and  from  the  outset  of  the  war  the  military  commanders 
had  to  deal  with  a  Negro  problem. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  Government  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible  with  slavery. 
After  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run  the  most  stringent  orders 
were  issued  to  the  commanders  not  to  harbor  any  slave 
property,  and  hundreds  of  escaping  slaves  who  had  come 
into  the  Union  camps  were  given  up  to  their  owners.19 
General  McClellan  in  his  proclamation  to  the  people  of 
Western  Virginia  in  May,  1861,  states  that  all  their 
rights  will  be  respected,  and  that  there  will  be  no  inter- 
ference with  their  slaves ;  and  in  July  of  the  same  year 

17  General  Minutes,  1862-1865. 
wZion's  Herald,  March  25,  1863. 

19  Autobiography  of  Oliver  Otis  Howard,  vol.  ii,  pp.  165-167. 

168 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 


the  commander  at  Washington  issued  a  general  order 
stating  that  "  fleeing  slaves  will  under  no  pretext  what- 
ever be  permitted  to  reside  or  be  in  any  way  harbored 
in  the  quarters  and  camps  of  the  troops  serving  in  this 
department.  Neither  will  such  slaves  be  allowed  to  ac- 
company troops  on  the  march."20  But  this  method  of 
dealing  with  the  slaves  was  not  and  could  not  be  per- 
manent, owing  to  the  fact  that  in  many  cases  such  treat- 
ment of  slaves  would  be  inhuman,  and  also  to  the 
fact  that  the  attitude  of  the  authorities  toward  the 
slaves  underwent  a  gradual  change  as  the  war  pro- 
gressed. 

General  B.  F.  Butler,  in  command  at  Fortress  Mon- 
roe, adopted  the  clever  expedient  of  classing  the  escaped 
slaves  as  " contraband  of  war,"  and  put  them  to  work 
upon  the  Union  works.  On  July  30,  1861,  he  reports 
nine  hundred  such  Negroes  under  his  charge.21  This 
plan  was  allowed  to  stand  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
though  Butler  is  warned  to  allow  no  interference  "with 
the  servants  of  peaceable  citizens,"  nor  "is  the  volun- 
tary return  of  any  fugitive"  to  be  prevented.22  The 
proclamation  of  Fremont,  in  August,  1861,  declaring 
free  the  slaves  of  those  in  rebellion  in  the  district  under 
his  command,23  was  promptly  recalled  by  the  President.24 
This  proclamation  of  Fremont's,  and  Butler's  action  in 
regard  to  the  slaves,  made  these  commanders  exceedingly 
popular  with  the  Church  people.  By  act  of  Congress, 
approved  March  13,  1862,  a  new  article  of  war  was 
created.  It  prohibited  all  persons  in  the  military  service 
from  employing  the  forces  under  their  command  to  re- 
turn slaves  to  claiming  owners,  and  provided  trial  by 
court  martial  and  the  penalty  of  dismissal  for  its  viola- 

20  McPherson,  pp.  144,  145. 

21  Moore 'g  "Bebellion  Becord,"  vol.  ii,  part  ii,  pp.  437,  438; 
alio  Howard,  vol.  ii,  pp.  168,  169. 

22  Moore,  vol.  ii,  part  ii,  p.  493. 
29  Ibid,  vol.  iii,  part  ii,  p.  33. 
24  McPherson,  pp.  246,  247. 

169 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War, 


tion.25  The  friends  of  freedom  hailed  this  act  with  no 
little  satisfaction,  and  it  indicates  the  change  in  the 
attitude  of  the  Government  toward  the  slaves. 

The  policy  of  employing  Negroes,  begun  by  Butler 
in  the  summer  of  1861,  was  soon  adopted  by  other  mili- 
tary commanders.  Grant  in  his  Vicksburg  campaign 
made  use  of  Negro  labor,  and  in  order  to  care  for  the 
many  thousands  of  refugees  that  came  to  him  he  set 
them  to  work  under  the  direction  of  an  army  chaplain 
picking  cotton  on  the  abandoned  plantations,  for  which 
they  received  a  stipulated  wage.26  This  was  soon  a 
common  practice  on  the  part  of  many  commanders,27 
and  Negroes  were  employed  in  the  hospitals  as  nurses 
and  cooks,  as  well  as  in  rougher  forms  of  labor.28 

As  the  number  of  Negroes  dependent  upon  the  care 
and  protection  of  the  military  commanders  increased  it 
became  necessary  to  organize  departments  of  Negro 
affairs.  Such  a  department  was  organized  by  General 
Butler  in  December,  1863,  in  his  department,  which  in- 
cluded Eastern  Virginia  and  part  of  North  Carolina. 
Among  the  duties  of  those  placed  in  charge  of  this 
work  was  to  take  an  accurate  census  of  the  colored  in- 
habitants in  his  district,  provide  food,  clothing,  and 
medicines  where  needed,  see  that  all  the  able-bodied  had 
employment,  and  take  charge  of  lands  allotted  to  the 
use  of  the  Negroes.29  There  was  an  effort,  also,  on  the 
part  of  the  military  commanders  to  establish  schools 
for  the  freedmen.  In  March,  1864,  General  Banks,  in 
command  at  New  Orleans,  issued  an  order  providing 
schools  for  freedmen  in  each  school  district,  even  order- 
ing land  to  be  bought  and  schoolhouses  erected;  and 
"books,  stationery,  and  apparatus  for  the  use  of  such 
schools"  was  to  be  provided,  and  also  "a  well-selected 

25  Howard,  vol.  ii,  p.  172. 

26  Grant's  "Memoirs,"  vol.  i,  pp.  124-126. 

27 1 1  Official  Records, ' '  Series  I,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  15. 
28  Ibid,  Series  III,  vol.  iv,  p.  32. 

29 Moore's  "Rebellion  Record,"  voL  viii,  part  ii,  pp.  261-264. 
170 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 


library' '  was  to  be  purchased  for  each  "freed  person* ' 
who  was  above  school  age,  "at  a  cost  to  each,  including 
a  case  to  contain  the  same,  not  exceeding  $2.50/ '80 

This  condition  of  affairs  in  relation  to  the  freedmen 
in  the  South  offered  great  opportunities  for  work  to 
the  Churches  and  benevolent  organizations  in  the  North, 
which  they  were  not  slow  to  improve. 

The  first  religious  organization  to  turn  its  attention 
to  the  needs  of  the  freedmen  was  the  American  Mis- 
sionary Association.  General  Butler  and  E.  L.  Pierce 
wrote  to  this  society  in  1861,  pointing  out  the  great  need 
among  the  freedmen.  The  society  promptly  responded 
to  this  appeal,  and  before  the  end  of  1861  had  several 
representatives  in  the  field.31  By  the  beginning  of  1862 
new  societies  began  to  be  formed  in  various  sections  of 
the  North  for  the  express  purpose  of  aiding  the  freed- 
men. 

Among  these  various  societies  were  the  following : 

1.  The  National  Freedmen 's  Relief  Association, 
formed  in  New  York,  February  22,  1862. 

2.  Pennsylvania  Freedmen 's  Relief  Association,  or- 
ganized 1862. 

3.  The  Contraband  Relief  Association  of  Cincinnati. 

4.  The  Freedmen 's  Relief  Association  of  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

5.  Woman's  Relief  Association  of  Philadelphia. 

6.  The  Northwestern  Freedmen 's  Aid  Commission. 

7.  The  Contraband  Relief  Society  of  St.  Louis. 

8.  The  Nashville  Refugee  Aid  Society. 

9.  The  Western  Freedmen 's  Aid  Society. 
10.  The  Washington  Freedmen 's  Aid  Society. 
IX.  The  Arkansas  Relief  Committee  of  Little  Rock. 

12.  The  New  Haven  Freedmen 's  Aid  Society. 

13.  The  Worchester  Freedmen 's  Aid  Society. 

14.  The  Trenton  Freedmen 's  Aid  Society. 

80  "Official  Reords,"  Series  III,  vol.  iv,  pp.  193-194. 

81  Freedmen 's  Bureau,  Paul  R.  Peirce,  pp.  26,  27. 

171 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


15.  Maine  Freedmen's  Relief  Society.32 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  early  in  the  war 
showed  considerable  interest  in  the  condition  of  the 
Freedmen.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of 
the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  held  early  in  1862,  action  was  taken  to  establish 
a  mission  for  colored  people  at  Port  Royal  and  vicinity.33 
This  interest  also  manifested  itself  from  the  beginning 
of  the  war  by  frequent  editorials,  articles,  and  appeals 
for  the  freedmen  which  appeared  in  the  Church  peri- 
odicals from  time  to  time. 

The  Church  as  a  whole  manifested  considerable  im- 
patience with  the  administration  in  the  early  years  of 
the  war  for  what  it  considered  its  dallying  attitude  to- 
ward emancipation.  Again  and  again  immediate  eman- 
cipation was  urged  in  pulpit  and  press.  General  Fre- 
mont seemed  to  be  the  Churches'  especial  hero  and  fa- 
vorite, and  when  he  issued  his  proclamation  emancipat- 
ing the  slaves  of  all  those  in  rebellion  within  his  mili- 
tary district,  he  was  hailed  with  acclaim  by  the  Metho- 
dist press,  and  when  Mr.  Lincoln  commanded  him  to 
withdraw  the  order,  Fremont  was  hailed  as  too  wise  for 
his  generation. 

The  Freedmen's  organizations  which  seemed  to  have 
the  largest  share  of  Methodist  co-operation  were  the 
National  Freedmen's  Relief  Association,  in  the  East, 
and  the  Western  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission,  in  the 
West  ;34  the  former  with  headquarters  in  New  York,  and 

82  Peirce,  pp.  27,  28.    Also  Minutes  Maine  Conference,  1865 ; 
Cincinnati  Conference  Minutes,  1864,  pp.  22,  23. 
33  Christian  Advocate,  1862,  Feb.  27. 

84  The  first  public  meeting  of  the  Western  Freedmen 's  Commis- 
sion was  held  in  Morris  Chapel  (Methodist),  Cincinnati,  Nov.  19, 
1863.  Eepresentatives  of  almost  every  Christian  denomination  were 
present.  Eev.  Adam  Poe  (Methodist)  was  president,  and  Rev. 
Chas.  Kingsley,  editor  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate,  delivered 
one  of  the  addresses.  The  treasurer  reported  receipts  for  eleven 
months  amounting  to  $9,437.75,  besides  thousands  of  garments, 
books,  shoes,  blankets,  etc. — Western  Christian  Advocate,  Nov.  25. 
1863. 


172 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 


the  latter  in  Cincinnati;  and  in  the  Northwest,  the 
Northwestern  Freedmen 's  Aid  Commission.  The  method 
of  this  co-operation  was  in  throwing  open  the  churches 
for  the  taking  of  collections  for  this  work,  and  the  send- 
ing of  teachers  and  missionaries  into  the  field.  Most  of 
the  Conferences  during  the  last  two  years  of  the  war 
appointed  special  committees  on  the  freedmen 's  work, 
whose  reports  generally  contained  the  indorsement  of 
some  freedmen 's  organization. 

The  report  of  such  a  committee  for  the  New  York 
East  Conference  in  1865  contains  first  an  expression  of 
confidence  in  the  National  Freedmen 's  Relief  Associa- 
tion; second,  a  resolve  asking  that  the  members  of  the 
Conference  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  objects  of  this 
association;  and  third,  a  resolve  which  proves  the  state- 
ment made  above  regarding  the  radical  and  sentimental 
position  of  the  Church  in  reference  to  the  Negro,  which 
states,  "That  we  recognize  in  the  freedmen  a  vast  body 
of  native-born  citizens  entitled  to  all  the  privileges,  im- 
munities, and  responsibilities  of  citizenship,  including 
equally,  with  all  other  Union  citizens,  the  protection  of 
law  and  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  that  we  will  not 
slacken  our  efforts  in  their  behalf  until  these  rights  are 
enjoyed  by  them."35 

The  report  of  a  similar  committee  from  the  Cincin- 
nati Conference36  states  that,  while  they  heartily  approve 
of  the  work  of  the  various  organizations  for  the  relief 
of  freedmen,  yet  they  feel  a  special  interest  in  the  West- 
ern Freedmen 's  Aid  Commission,  as  operating  within 
their  bounds,  to  which  they  promise  sympathy  and  sup- 
port; and  they  also  recommend  the  appointment  of  J. 
M.  Walden  as  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Western 
Freedmen 's  Commission.37  The  report  of  such  a  com- 
mittee from  the  Indiana  Conference  stated  "that  it  is 

85  New  York  East  Conference  Minutes,  1865,  pp.  41,  42. 

36  Minutes  Cincinnati  Conference,  1864,  pp.  22,  23. 

37  The  secretary  of  this  committee  was  Rev.  J.  M.  Sullivan,  an 
uncle  of  the  writer  and  an  ex-chaplain. 

173 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


our  duty  to  welcome  in  our  midst  the  regular  consti- 
tuted agents  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission  and 
assist  them  in  encouraging  all  our  people  to  contribute 
money  and  clothing  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  Negro 
contrabands. ' ,38 

The  General  Conference  of  1864,  representing  the 
whole  Church,  also  appointed  a  committee  on  the  freed- 
men,  which  reported  "that  in  the  events  which  have 
thrown  the  thousands  of  freed  people  upon  the  benevo- 
lence of  the  humane  people  of  the  North,  we  recognize 
a  Providential  call  to  the  Christian  public  .  .  .  and 
especially  to  the  Church  of  Christ  for  the  means  of  their 
evangelization. ' '  The  second  resolve  indorses  the  Boston 
Educational  Association,  the  Western  Freedmen's  Aid 
Commission,  the  National  Freedmen's  Relief  Association, 
the  Northwestern  Freedmen's  Relief  Association,  the 
Pennsylvania  Freedmen's  Relief  Association,  and  the 
Western  Sanitary  Commission,  and  commends  them  to 
the  liberality  of  Methodist  people  everywhere.  The  last 
one  states  "that  the  best  interests  of  the  freedmen  and 
of  the  country  demand  legislation  that  shall  foster  and 
protect  this  people,"  and  they  urge  upon  Congress  to 
establish  a  bureau  of  freedmen's  affairs.39 

A  bill  establishing  a  Freedmen's  Bureau  as  a  part 
of  the  War  Department  was  passed  by  Congress  March 
3,  1865,  which  was  to  continue  during  the  war  and  one 
year  thereafter,  but  Congress  afterwards  by  legislative 
act  extended  the  life  of  the  bureau.40  The  object  of  the 
bureau  was  to  supervise,  aid,  and  protect  the  freedmen 
in  the  South,  and  at  its  head  was  placed  General  0.  0. 
Howard,  a  man  who  had  the  confidence  of  the  Church 
and  Christian  people  generally.  This  bureau  con- 
tinued its  operations  until  January  1,  1869,  and  dur- 

38  Minutes  Indiana  Conference,  1864,  p.  32. 

39  General  Conference  Journal,  1864,  p.  130. 

40  House  Executive  Documents,  39th  Congress,  1st  Session,  vol.  ii, 
p.  41,  No.  11 ;  also  Howard,  vol.  ii,  pp.  201,  202. 

174 


Methodist  Co-operation  with  Organizations. 

ing  this  period  the  various  Churches  in  the  North  es- 
tablished on  a  firm  basis  their  work  among  the  freed- 
men. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  war,  or  soon  after,  many 
of  the  denominations  organized  their  own  denomina- 
tional societies  to  carry  on  this  work.  The  United  Pres- 
byterians of  Ohio  organized  their  own  Freedmen 's  So- 
ciety in  1863,  and  in  the  same  year  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterians, the  United  Brethren,  and  one  branch  of  the 
Baptists  also  organized  denominational  societies  for 
work  among  freedmen.  In  1865  the  Congregationalists 
organized  a  similar  society  and  called  upon  the  Church 
to  give  a  quarter  million  annually  for  this  work.  The 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  October,  1865,  at  their 
convention  in  Philadelphia,  organized  a  Freedmen 's  Aid 
Society,  and  the  Baptists  the  same  year  appealed  to  their 
Churches  for  $100,000  to  begin  their  work.41  The  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  continued  to  work  through  the 
various  general  organizations  until  after  the  close  of 
the  war. 

During  the  last  years  of  the  war  a  number  of  mis- 
sionaries to  Negroes  in  the  South  were  sent  out  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Churches,  Sunday  schools, 
and  lay  schools  were  established  at  various  places.  At 
Newbern,  N.  C,  a  day  school  was  conducted  in  the  Col- 
ored Methodist  Church,  and  three  Sunday  schools  were 
conducted  in  that  place  and  vicinity.42  Besides  these 
missionaries  to  the  Negroes  a  number  of  Methodist  min- 
isters acted  as  agents  of  several  of  these  freedmen 's 
organizations,  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Walden,  of  the  Cincinnati 
Conference,  who  was  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
Western  Freedmen 's  Aid  Commission,  being  the  most 
prominent.    He  afterwards  became  secretary  of  the 

41 ' '  Christian  Educators  in  Council, ' '  1883 ;  compiled  by  J.  C. 
Hartzell. 

43  Christian  Advocate,  Jan.  21,  1864. 

175 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Freedmen's  Aid  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  later  a  bishop.43 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1866,  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organ- 
ized in  Cincinnati  by  a  convention  of  ministers  and  lay- 
men called  for  that  purpose.  Later  this  society  was 
given  official  recognition  and  indorsed  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1868,  and  has  remained  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal benevolent  organizations  of  the  Church  to  the  pres- 
ent time. 

43  Among  the  other  Methodist  ministers  who  held  similar  posi- 
tions during  the  war  were  Eev.  Uriah  Eberhart,  Upper  Iowa  Con- 
ference, and  Rev.  C.  P.  Pillsbury,  Wisconsin  Conference,  agents  of 
the  Northwestern  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission;  Revs.  J.  R.  Still- 
man,  Cincinnati  Conference;  J.  R,  Luke,  Illinois  Conference,  and 
J.  F.  Jaques,  Illinois  Conference,  agents  Western  Freedmen's  Com- 
mission. Revs.  H.  S.  White,  Providence  Conference;  William  Live- 
sey,  Providence  Conference;  A.  C.  Rose,  Troy  Conference;  S.  Q. 
Gibson,  Ohio  Conference;  A.  D.  Martin,  Erie  Conference;  and  C. 
C.  Cone,  Maine  Conference,  were  agents  of  other  such  societies  or 
commissions.  This  data  has  been  obtained  from  the  General  Min- 
utes, 1861-1865. 


176 


CHAPTER  X. 

Bibliography. 

I.  Slavery  Struggle  in  the  Church. 
1.  Primary  Sources. 

CHURCH  DOCUMENTS. 

The  General  Conference  Journals,  especially  those 
from  1844  to  1864,  inclusive.  The  General  Conference 
is  the  law-making  body  of  the  Church  (Methodist  Epis- 
copal) and  meets  every  four  years.  The  Journal  con- 
tains the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  and  the  reports  of 
committees. 

The  Disciplines  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
from  1784  to  1864,  inclusive.  The  Discipline  contains 
the  Constitution  and  Rules  of  the  Church,  and  is  revised 
every  four  years  in  conformity  with  the  action  of  the 
General  Conference. 

Minutes  of  the  Annual  Conferences.  Each  of  the 
several  Annual  Conferences  published  Minutes,  in  which 
may  be  found  material  bearing  on  the  slavery  contest, 
such  as  formal  resolutions,  reports  of  committees,  and 
records  of  discussions. 

Methodist  Church  Property  Case,  New  York,  1851. 
This  case  relates  to  the  division  of  the  property  of  the 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  brought  by  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South.  This  volume  contains  copies  of 
the  various  documents  relating  to  the  division  of  the 
Church.  Reported  by  R.  Sutton,  special  and  Congres- 
sional reporter. 

Report  of  Debates  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844, 
by  Robert  Athow  West,  official  reporter,  New  York,  1844. 
12  Yll 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


These  debates  relate  to  the  division  of  the  Church  over 
slavery,  which  took  place  at  this  General  Conference. 

CHURCH  PERIODICALS. 

The  three  most  important  Methodist  journals  for 
the  whole  of  the  slavery  contest  within  the  Church  are: 
Zion's  Herald  and  Wesley  an  Journal,  published  in  Bos- 
ton; the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  published  in 
New  York,  which  was  the  chief  official  publication  of 
the  Church;  and  the  Western  Christian  Advocate,  pub- 
lished in  Cincinnati.  The  Northwestern  Christian  Ad- 
vocate and  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  published  in 
Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  are  valuable  for  the  years  1850 
to  1860. 

GOVERNMENT  DOCUMENTS. 

The  material  among  Government  documents  bearing 
on  the  slavery  contest  in  the  Churches  is  very  meager. 
Congressional  Glooe,  vol.  xxi,  part  i,  p.  453 ;  House  Re- 
port of  Committees,  1st  and  2d  Sessions,  34th  Congress, 
vol.  ii,  1855-56,  being  about  the  extent  of  such  material. 

2.  Secondary  Sources. 

The  most  important  book  for  the  slavery  contest  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  the  "  History  of  the 
Great  Secession  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  Year  1845,"  by  Rev.  Charles  Elliott,  D.  D.,  Cin- 
cinnati, 1855.  This  is  the  official  history  of  the  division 
of  the  Church,  from  the  Northern  standpoint,  authorized 
by  the  General  Conference  of  1848.  It  contains  a  great 
mass  of  valuable  material  with  copious  quotations  from 
periodicals,  pamphlets,  etc.  Documents  to  the  number 
of  seventy-seven  are  appended. 

"The  Anti-Slavery  Struggle  and  Triumph  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  by  L.  C.  Matlack,  1881. 
The  best  brief  summary  of  the  entire  slavery  struggle, 
written  by  an  active  participant  in  the  struggle,  having 

178 


Bibliography. 


been  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  the  anti-slavery  Church.  The  book  would  be 
much  more  satisfactory,  however,  if  it  contained  full 
footnotes. 

" History  of  Methodism  in  the  United  States,' '  by 
J.  M.  Buckley,  1896.  The  best  of  the  briefer  histories 
of  Methodism  in  the  United  States. 

Brief  accounts  and  discussions  on  Slavery  and  the 
Church,  all  written  from  an  extreme  partisan  stand- 
point :  ' '  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Slavery, ' ' 
by  Daniel  De  Vinne ;  ' '  Border  Methodism  and  Border 
Slavery,"  by  Rev.  J.  Maryland  McCarter,  1858;  "Slav- 
ery in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  by  Elias 
Bowen,  1859;  "Vindication  of  Border  Methodism,"  by 
Samuel  Huffman,  1859;  "Methodism  and  Slavery,"  by 
L.  C.  Matlack,  1848;  a  collection  of  pamphlets  bearing 
on  Slavery,  compiled  by  Rev.  Richard  Watson,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  British  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  bound  in  eleven  volumes.  Deposited  in 
the  Methodist  Book  Concern,  Cincinnati:  "Cleavage 
Between  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia,"  by  C.  H.  Am- 
bler, in  American  Historical  Review,  July,  1910.  In 
this  article  the  importance  of  the  Church  in  the  disrup- 
tion of  Virginia  is  discussed,  using  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  as  the  typical  example.  "The  Fight  for 
the  Northwest,  1860,"  by  W.  E.  Dodd,  American  Histor- 
ical Review,  July,  1911.  In  the  course  of  this  article 
the  political  influence  of  the  Churches  in  the  election  of 
1860  in  the  Northwest  is  discussed,  with  special  empha- 
sis upon  the  Methodist  Church. 

BIOGRAPHIES. 

These  consist  mostly  of  lives  of  Bishops  and  promi- 
nent ministers,  written  in  highly  eulogistic  style.  ' '  Peter 
Cartwright's  Autobiography,"  1856.  Peter  Cartwright 
was  one  of  the  best-known  pioneer  preachers  of  the  Mid- 
dle West  and  took  strong  anti-slavery  ground.   "Life  of 

179 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


Orange  Scott,"  by  L.  C.  Matlack,  1848.  One  of  the 
early  abolition  leaders  in  the  Methodist  Church.  "Life 
of  Adam  Crooks,"  by  Mrs.  E.  W.  Crooks,  1875;  "Life 
of  John  P.  Durbin,  D.  D.,"  by  John  A.  Roche,  1889. 
Dr.  Durbin  was  secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  during  the  bitterest 
part  of  the  slavery  controversy. 

GENERAL  ACCOUNTS. 

"Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  America,"  by 
Henry  Wilson,  3  vols.,  1877.  Uncritical  and  without 
footnotes,  and  of  little  importance  for  the  slavery  con- 
test in  the  Churches,  but  the  most  complete  survey  of 
the  whole  question  of  American  slavery. 

"History  of  the  United  States,  1850-1877,"  by  James 
Ford  Rhodes,  7  vols.  Volume  I  refers  briefly  to  the 
Churches  in  relation  to  the  slavery  struggle,  pp.  128, 
129,  145,  146. 

"Slavery  and  Abolition,"  by  A.  B.  Hart,  Vol.  XVI, 
American  Nation  Series,  gives  brief  summary  of  slavery 
in  its  relation  to  the  Churches.  The  most  valuable  part 
of  this  volume  for  this  study  is  the  chapter  devoted  to  a 
bibliography  on  the  general  subject  of  Slavery  and  Abo- 
lition. 

II.  Relation  op  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to 
the  War. 

1.  Primary  Sources. 

CHURCH  DOCUMENTS. 

General  Conference  Journals  for  1860  and  1864. 
Contain  proceedings  without  debates,  with  reports  of 
committees  in  the  Appendix.   A  valuable  source. 

The  General  Minutes  of  the  Annual  Conferences  in 
the  United  States,  1861-1865,  3  vols.  This  is  little  more 
than  a  bare  collection  of  statistics  of  the  Churches.  In 

180 


Bibliography. 


these  volumes  are  also  printed  brief  memoirs  of  deceased 
preachers. 

Individual  Conference  Minutes.  Each  Annual  Con- 
ference published  Minutes,  which  contain  besides  the 
bare  statistical  reports,  reports  of  committees  and  reso- 
lutions on  various  subjects  relating  to  the  war. 

CHURCH  PERIODICALS. 

The  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  published  in 
New  York,  Edward  Thomson,  D.  D.,  editor,  1860-1864. 
Generally  recognized  as  the  principal  weekly  journal 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Well  conducted  and 
an  excellent  source.  Zion's  Herald  and  Wesley  an  Jour- 
nal, published  in  Boston  and  edited  by  Rev.  Erastus 
0.  Haven.  This  was  the  oldest  Methodist  journal  and 
had  a  reputation  for  independence.  Western  Christian 
Advocate,  published  in  Cincinnati  and  edited  by  Charles 
Kingsley,  D.  D.  Next  to  the  New  York  paper  the  most 
influential  of  the  Methodist  journals.  The  Methodist, 
an  independent  journal,  published  in  New  York  and 
ably  edited  by  Geo.  R.  Crooks,  D.  D.,  and  John  Mc- 
Clintock,  D.D.,  two  of  the  best-known  and  ablest  minis- 
ters of  the  Church. 

Other  Methodist  journals  which  contain  valuable 
material  relating  to  the  war  are :  The  Central  Christian 
Advocate,  published  in  St.  Louis  and  edited  during  the 
war  by  Charles  Elliott,  D.  D. ;  Northwestern  Christian 
Advocate,  of  Chicago,  edited  by  T.  M.  Eddy,  D.  D.; 
also  the  Buffalo  and  Pittsburgh  Christian  Advocates;  the 
Pacific  Christian  Advocate,  of  Portland,  Ore.;  the  La- 
dies '  Repository  and  Der  Christliche  Apologete,  both 
published  in  Cincinnati;  the  Quarterly  Review,  of  New 
York,  and  a  number  of  other  local  and  smaller  peri- 
odicals. 

Occasional  references  bearing  on  the  relation  of  the 
Church  to  the  Civil  War  are  also  found  in  Harper's 
Weekly  and  other  secular  journals. 

181 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


MANUSCRIPTS. 

Considerable  manuscript  material  bearing  on  this 
study  is  available.  Among  such  material  are  the  Min- 
utes of  the  weekly  preachers'  meetings  of  the  various 
cities,  such  as  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Cincin- 
nati. These  manuscript  Minutes  may  be  found  in  the 
various  historical  collections  of  the  Methodist  Church  in 
the  cities  above  referred  to.  These  Minutes  contain  con- 
siderable material  of  local  importance. 

Some  private  documents  and  papers  are  of  impor- 
tance, such  as  the  letters  and  papers  of  Bishop  Simp- 
son, now  in  the  possession  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Chas. 
W.  Bouy,  906  Pine  Street,  Philadelphia;  also  the  manu- 
script journal  of  Rev.  Daniel  Stevenson,  one  of  the 
eighteen  ministers  of  the  Kentucky  Conference,  Metho- 
dist Church  South,  who  came  into  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  at  the  close  of  the  war;  the  journal  now 
in  the  possession  of  Prof.  R.  T.  Stevenson,  Delaware, 
Ohio.  Other  collections  of  letters  and  papers  may  be 
found  in  the  Methodist  Historical  Rooms,  1018  Arch 
Street,  Philadelphia ;  150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York ;  and 
36  Boomfield  Street,  Boston. 

GOVERNMENT  ©OCUMENTS. 

Material  relating  to  the  war  activities  of  the  Church 
in  Government  documents  is  not  abundant.  The  most 
numerous  references  are  found  in  the  ' '  Official  Records ' ' 
of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies,  128  vols.,  with 
General  Index,  especially  in  Series  II,  which  relates  to 
Prisoners  of  War.  The  disloyal  activities  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  during  the  war  are  set 
forth  in  the  Report  of  House  and  Senate  Committees 
on  war  claims,  found  in  House  Reports  of  Committees, 
43d  Congress,  1st  Session,  Document  777,  and  in  Senate 
Report  of  Committees,  45th  Congress,  2d  Session,  No. 
146. 

182 


Bibliography. 


"Richardson's  "Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presi- 
dents," in  ten  volumes,  published  as  House  Miscella- 
neous Documents,  53d  Congress,  2d  Session,  No.  210, 
Vol.  VI,  contains  President  Lincoln's  messages  and 
papers. 

MISCELLANEOUS  COLLECTIONS  OF  DOCUMENTS. 

"McPherson's  History  of  the  Rebellion,"  by  Edward 
McPherson,  one  time  clerk  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. A  very  valuable  compilation,  made  up  mostly  of 
quotations  from  official  documents  and  newspapers.  In 
the  Appendix  is  a  chapter  devoted  to  the  Church  and 
the  Rebellion,  which  has  been  an  invaluable  source  for 
this  study.  "Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia"  for  1860- 
1865.  A  very  valuable  source  based  on  newspaper  re- 
ports. "The  Rebellion  Record — A  Diary  of  American 
Events,"  edited  by  Frank  Moore.  "Abraham  Lincoln, 
A  History,"  by  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  VI,  contains  a 
chapter  on  Lincoln  and  the  Churches,  which  has  con- 
siderable value  for  this  study. 

The  Methodist  Almanac,  1860-1865,  for  some  general 
statistics  relating  to  the  Church  not  elsewhere  found. 
"Annals  of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission," 
by  Rev.  Samuel  Moss,  home  secretary  of  the  commission. 
A  complete  history  of  the  commission,  told  year  by  year, 
with  statistics,  copies  of  letters,  and  other  documents 
relating  to  the  work  of  the  commission.  "Incidents  of 
the  United  States  Christian  Commission,"  by  Edward 
P.  Smith.  A  collection  of  incidents  relating  to  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  commission,  poorly  organized,  and  with 
no  classification  whatever. 

2.  Secondary  Sources. 

GENERAL. 

"The  Church  and  the  Rebellion,"  by  R.  L.  Stanton, 
D.  D.  An  attempt  to  show  that  the  war  was  brought 
on  largely  because  of  the  influences  of  the  Churches,  and 

183 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


controversial  in  character.  "An  Appeal  to  the  Rec- 
ords," by  E.  Q.  Fuller,  D.  D.,  1876.  An  argument  sup- 
porting the  action  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  going  into  the  South.  "The  Freedmen's  Bureau," 
by  Paul  K.  Pierce,  1904.    University  of  Iowa  Studies. 

LOCAL  HISTORIES. 

"History  of  Methodism  in  Wisconsin,"  by  Rev.  P. 
S.  Bennett  and  Rev.  James  Lawson,  1890.  "Southwest- 
ern Methodism,"  by  Rev.  Charles  Elliott,  D.  D.,  1868. 
Made  up  largely  of  extracts  from  the  Central  Christian 
Advocate  for  the  four  years  of  the  war,  of  which  Dr. 
Elliott  was  the  war  editor.  "Indiana  Methodism,"  by 
F.  G.  Holliday,  1873.  "History  of  the  New  England 
Conference,"  by  James  Mudge,  1910.  "History  of  the 
New  England  Southern  Conference,"  and  numerous 
other  local  histories  of  like  nature. 

HISTORY  OF  INDIVIDUAL  CHURCHES. 

"History  of  Ebenezer  Church,  of  South wark,  Phila- 
delphia ; "  "  Memorial  Record  of  "Wharton  Street  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,"  by  J.  C.  Hunter- 
son.  ' 1  Seventy-seventh  Anniversary  of  the  Union  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia."  In  this  church 
the  famous  General  Conference  of  1864  was  held. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

There  are  a  number  of  biographies  of  bishops  and 
prominent  ministers  which  contain  material  for  this 
study.  "Life  of  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,"  by  George 
R.  Crooks,  D.  D.,  1890.  A  carefully  written  biography, 
giving  a  detailed  account  of  the  bishop's  war  activities. 
"Life  of  Bishop  Janes,"  by  Henry  B.  Ridgeway,  D.  D., 
1882.  "Life  of  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Morris,"  by  Rev.  John 
F.  Marlay,  1875.  "Life  Story  of  Rev.  Davis  W.  Clark," 
by  Daniel  Curry,  1874.  All  of  the  above  were  bishops 
during  all  or  a  part  of  the  Civil  War.  "Autobiography 

184 


Bibliography. 


of  Granville  Moody,"  edited  by  Rev.  S.  Weeks,  1889. 
"Life  and  Letters  of  Rev.  Dr.  McClintock,,,  by  George 
R.  Crooks,  1876.  "Life  of  Chaplain  McCabe,"  by  Frank 
Milton  Bristol,  1908.  "Life  of  George  H.  Stewart," 
written  by  himself,  edited  by  Robert  Ellis  Thompson, 
1890.  Mt.  Stewart  was  one  of  the  founders  and  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission. 

3.  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

GENERAL. 

Minutes  of  the  Annual  Conferences  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  2  vols.  (1858-1865),  1870. 
Merely  a  collection  of  statistics.  "History  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,"  by  Gross  Alexander. 
Volume  XI  of  the  American  Church  History  Series. 
The  best  brief  history  of  that  denomination.  "History 
of  the  Organization  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,"  1845.  Contains  collection  relating  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Church  South.  "The  Disruption  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  1844-1846,  by  E.  H. 
Myers.  "History  of  the  Organization  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,"  by  A.  H.  Redford,  1871. 
"Annals  of  Southern  Methodism,"  by  C.  F.  Deems. 
"History  of  Methodism,"  by  Bishop  H.  N.  McTyeire, 
1884. 

LOCAL  HISTORIES. 

"History  of  Methodism  in  Kentucky,"  A.  H.  Red- 
ford,  3  vols.,  1868.  "A  Critical  View  of  the  Holston 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
during  the  Great  Rebellion,"  J.  H.  Main,  1868.  "Meth- 
odism in  Missouri,"  Vols.  I  and  II,  by  D.  R.  McAnally, 
editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate  (Methodist 
Church  South)  during  the  war ;  Vol.  Ill,  by  W.  H.  Lewis, 
1890.  "History  of  Methodism  in  Georgia  and  Florida, 
1785-1865,"  George  G.  Smith,  Jr.,  1877.  "Sketches  of 
the  Virginia  Conference,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

185 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Civil  War. 


South,"  by  J.  H.  Lafferty.  "Martyrdom  in  Missouri," 
by  Rev.  W.  M.  Leftwieh,  2  vols.,  1870.  An  account  of 
the  persecution  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  Missouri  during  and  following  the  war.  ' '  The 
Methodist  Church  Case  of  Maysville,  Ky.,"  by  Henry 
Ward,  F.  T.  Hard,  and  R.  H.  Stanton. 

BIOGRAPHIES. 

A  number  of  biographies  of  the  bishops  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  have  been  written,  some 
of  which  contain  material  for  this  study.  "Life  of 
Bishop  James  Osgood  Andrew,"  by  G.  G.  Smith,  1882. 
This  biography  bears  particularly  upon  the  division  of 
the  Church.  "Life  of  Bishop  Henry  Biddleman  Bas- 
com,"  by  M.  M.  Henkle;  1854.  "Life  of  Bishop  William 
Capers,"  by  Wm.  M.  Wightman,  1858.  "Life  of  John 
Berry  McFerrin,"  by  Bishop  0.  P.  Fitzgerald,  1888. 
"Bishop  George  Foster  Pierce,"  by  Geo.  G.  Smith,  1888. 
Bishop  Pierce  was  particularly  active  in  his  labors  for 
the  Confederacy.  "Life  of  Bishop  Enoch  Mather  Mar- 
vin," by  T.  M.  Finney. 


186 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  A. 


Chaplains  By  Conferences. 


Baltimore  Conference. 
Bull,  J.  W. 
Hoover,  J.  W. 

Black  River  Conference. 
Axtell,  N.  G. 
Chase,  W.  D. 
Ferguson,  J.  V. 
Jones,  E.  W. 
Mitchell,  John. 
Nicols,  W.  A. 
Pierce,  M.  R. 
Palmer,  L.  L. 

Central  German  Conference. 
Schmidt,  H.  D.  (1864) 

Central  Illinois  Conference. 
Brown,  G.  W. 
Cotton,  Thos. 
Gue,  G.  W. 
Haney,  R. 
Haney,  M.  L. 
Higgins,  A.  C. 
Hackard,  M.  D. 
Milliops,  J.  S. 
Palmer,  Geo.  R. 
Peterson,  W.  S. 
Ransom,  E. 
Tullis,  Amos  K. 
Underwood,  W. 

Central  Ohio  Conference. 
Alderman,  J.  W. 
Collier,  Geo.  W. 
Cozier,  B.  F.  W. 


Ferris,  C.  G. 
Hallington,  A. 
Ketcham,  C.  W. 
Kennedy,  Oliver. 
Morrow,  J.  M. 
Poucher,  J. 
Poe,  A.  B. 
Reynolds,  Chae. 
Strong,  D.  G. 
Wilson,  Amos. 

Cincinnati  Conference. 
Bitler,  M. 
Beall,  A.  U. 
Brewster,  D.  A. 
Blackburn,  Jas. 
Callender,  N. 
Cramer,  M.  J. 
Chalf  ant,  J.  F. 
Gaddis,  M.  P. 
Hill,  J.  J. 
Moody,  J. 
Miller,  L.  P. 
Middleton,  J.  H. 
Sears,  C.  W. 
Spence,  J.  F. 
Stillwell,  J.  R. 
Schmidt,  H.  D.  (1863) 
Shinn,  John. 
Wright,  J.  F. 
Weakley,  J.  W. 
Yourtee,  S.  L. 
Sullivan,  J.  M. 

Des  Moines  Conference. 
Jones,  C.  J. 
Slusser,  F.  M. 


189 


Appendix. 


Detroit  Conference. 

Chase,  S.  F. 

Blanchard,  J. 

Church,  A.  J. 

Benson,  W. 

Ellis,  C.  H. 

Edwards,  A. 

Higgins,  Phineas. 

Jacokes,  D.  C. 

Stout,  S.  F. 

May,  E.  W. 

Tefft,  B.  F. 

Mahan,  Wm. 

May,  W.  C. 

Erie  Conference. 

Sneart,  J.  S. 

Bear,  E.  M. 

Shaw,  A.  C. 

Breen,  J.  M. 

Tracey,  D.  B. 

Hulburt,  E.  H. 

Taylor,  G. 

Hawk,  G.  B. 

Lytle,  J.  S. 

East  Baltimore  Conference. 

T.iiin,wif,k  E  A 

Brittain,  A. 

Moore,  H.  H. 

Couser,  S.  L.  M. 

Morton,  A.  D. 

Crever,  B.  H. 

Steve,  D.  M. 

Coleman,  J.  A. 

Williams,  L.  D. 

Earnshaw,  Wm. 

Ferguion,  W.  G. 

Genesee  Conference. 

Gere,  J.  A. 

Bowman,  J. 

Hartman,  G. 

Buck,  E.  M. 

Houck,  W.  A. 

Bills,  J.  E. 

Keith,  W.  H. 

Dolematyr,  G. 

McClure,  T.  F. 

Foot,  L.  T. 

Miller,  J.  E. 

Kendall,  A. 

xvOSS,  o.  A. 

lYiciNeai,  rsenj.  r. 

Eeese,  A.  A. 

Eobie,  J.  E. 

Stevens,  W.  H. 

Eojrprs  W  H 

Vinton  E  S 

Steele,  Allan. 

Wilson,  J.  T. 

Holston  Conference. 

East  Genesee  Conference. 

Milburn,  Wm. 

Buck,  D.  D. 

Brown   -T  "M" 

Illinois  Conference. 

Drake,  E.  A. 

Berger,  J.  S. 

Dickinson,  S.  B. 

Baldwin,  C.  P. 

Haskell,  W.  M. 

Barwick,  J.  S. 

Watts,  J. 

Bradshaw,  C.  G. 

Crant,  J.  L. 

East  Maine  Conference. 

Evans,  W.  M. 

Brown,  J.  L. 

Guthrie,  E.  E. 

Bray,  H.  L. 

Hammond,  P.  D. 

Chase,  B.  A. 

Hurgerford,  B. 

190 


Appendix. 


Jones,  L. 
Jacquess,  F.  J. 
Kirkpabuck,  J.  L. 
Locke,  J.  R. 
Miller,  I.  T. 
Newinan,  W.  J. 
Palmer,  J.  A. 
Rutledge,  W.  J. 
Sargent,  J.  C. 
Vandewater,  A.  C. 
Wood,  P. 
Wilkins,  E.  D. 

Indiana  Conference. 
Brown,  S. 
Carson,  L.  E. 
Campbell,  M.  M. 
Chapman,  H.  O. 
Daniel,  W.  V. 
Gilmore,  Hiram. 
Gaskins,  E. 
Hibben,  H.  B. 
Hewing,  F.  A. 
Hobbs,  M.  M.  C. 
Hight,  J.  J. 
Hancock,  L.  M. 
Hucherson,  F.  A. 
Haimeton,  J.  B. 
Kiger,  John. 
McNoughten,  S.  W. 
Pierce,  R.  R. 
Patterson,  N.  M. 
St.  Clair,  J.  F. 
Whitled,  Thomas  A. 
Woods,  Milas. 

Iowa  Conference. 
Allender,  R.  B. 
Audas,  Thos. 
Burgess,  John. 
Evans,  F.  W. 
Ebod,  John. 
Garrison,  S.  F.  C. 
Hare,  W.  H. 


Hestwood,  S. 
Ingalls,  P.  P. 
Kirkpatrick,  A.  J. 
Latham,  J.  W. 
Murphy,  Dennis. 
Poston,  W. 
Stewart,  I.  I. 
Simmons,  J.  T. 
Teter,  J.  P. 
White,  J.  H. 

Kansas  Conference. 
Brooks,  S. 
Cline,  J.  S. 
Duvall,  R.  P. 
Davis,  W.  R. 
Fisher,  H.  D. 
Fevrill,  T.  J. 
Gardner,  O.  B. 
Kline,  J.  S. 
Leard,  J.  H. 
Paulson,  John. 
Robb,  W. 

Kentucky  Conference. 
Black,  W.  H. 
Burket,  M.  H.  B. 
Lathrop,  E. 
Pell,  J.  P. 

Maine  Conference. 
Colby,  Jos. 
French,  L.  P. 
Fuller,  S.  A. 
Godfrey,  A.  C. 

Michigan  Conference. 
Brockway,  W.  H. 
Cogshall,  I. 
Earl,  L.  W. 
Elrod,  A.  J. 
Glass,  F. 
Jones,  J. 
Patterson,  H.  A. 
Smith,  M.  J. 


Appendix. 


Minnesota  Conference. 
Brown,  L.  D. 
Bowdish,  C.  H. 
Balles,  S. 
Crary,  B.  F. 
Cobb,  D. 
Light,  O.  P. 
Lathrop,  E.  E. 
Peet,  J. 

Kichardson,  G.  W. 
Tucker,  Ezra. 

Missouri  and  Arkansas  Con- 
ference. 
Brooks,  Jos. 
Bratton,  T.  B. 
Cox,  J.  H. 
Hopkins,  J.  H. 
Linen,  J. 
McDonald,  A.  C. 
McNeiley,  L.  T. 
Oyler,  James. 
Pile,  W.  A. 
Pace,  L.  C. 
Shumate,  N. 
Sellers,  Wm. 
Williams,  T.  J. 

Nebraska  Conference. 
Spillman,  W.  P. 

Newark  Conference. 
Brown,  J.  H. 
Crane,  E.  P. 
Daily,  J.  P. 
Faull,  John. 
Gray,  S.  L. 
Horton,  G.  W. 
Lenhart,  J.  L. 
Moore,  S.  T. 
Pritchard,  B.  F. 
Simpson,  B.  F. 
Wolfe,  F.  L. 
Yard,  E.  B. 


New  England  Conference. 
Bent,  G.  E. 
Cushman,  I.  S. 
Cromack,  J.  C. 
Gage,  Eodney. 
Hemstead,  H.  E. 
Haven,  Gilbert. 
Lacount,  W.  F. 
Leanard,  W.  G. 
Morse,  F.  C. 
Winslow,  E.  D. 
Macreading,  C.  S. 

New  Hampshire  Conference. 
Adams,  J.  W. 
Barnes,  G.  S. 
Buckley,  J.  M. 
Emerson,  J.  C. 
Lergo,  E.  H. 
Manly,  E.  M. 
Pike,  James. 
Stratton,  E.  K. 
Thomas,  W.  H. 
Wilkins,  L. 

New  Jersey  Conference. 
Abbott,  W.  T. 
Given,  E. 
Graw,  J.  B. 
Heisley,  C.  W. 
Hartraufft,  C.  E. 
Hill,  C.  E. 
James,  J.  H. 
Eose,  F.  B. 
Sovereign,  T. 
Stockton,  W.  C. 
White,  J. 

New  York  Conference. 
Champion,  J.  H. 
Ferris,  D.  O. 
Gale,  S.  G. 
Keyes,  E.  E. 
Parker,  John. 


Appendix. 


Strickland,  W.  P. 
Shelling,  C. 
Wheatley,  Kichard. 

New  York  East  Conference. 
Gilden,  W.  H. 
Inskip,  J.  S. 

North  Indiana  Conference. 
Beeks,  G.  C. 
Barnett,  Thos. 
Barnhart,  A.  C. 
Boyden,  O.  P. 
Dale,  L. 
Eddy,  A. 
Hoback,  W.  K. 
Lemon,  O.  V. 
Layton,  S. 
McCarty,  J.  S. 
Stout,  S.  T. 
Smith,  J.  W. 
Sparks,  E.  H. 

North  Ohio  Conference. 
Bush,  E.  H. 
Beatty,  Samuel  M. 
Bushong,  J.  W. 
Jones,  A.  P. 
Matlack,  J. 
Nicherson,  W.  H. 
Parish,  H.  L. 
PhiUips,  Geo.  S. 
Pepper,  G.  W. 
Warner,  Lorengo. 
Wheeler,  Alfred. 
Warner,  L. 

North  West  Indiana  Confer- 
ence. 

Brakeman,  N.  L. 
Claypool,  J.  H. 
Donaldson,  J.  S. 
Guion,  G. 
Huffman,  H.  D. 


Hill,  J. 
Harker,  W.  S. 
Eeed,  J.  C. 
Stafford,  G.  W. 
Tarr,  C.  W. 
Webb,  T.  E. 

Northwest   Wisconsin  Con- 
ference. 

Golden,  T.  C. 
Johnson,  J.  W. 
McKinley,  Wm. 
Springer,  J.  E. 

Ohio  Conference. 
Byers,  A.  G. 
Bennett,  E.  B. 
Bethauser,  Charles. 
Berkstresser,  H. 
Drake,  L.  F. 
Dillon,  John. 
Fry,  B.  St.  James. 
Gregg,  J.  C. 
Griffith,  W.  H. 
Holliday,  W.  C. 
Hall,  E.  P. 
Isaminger,  G.  W. 
King,  M.  L. 
Lewis,  J.  W. 
Morris,  Jos. 
McCabe,  C.  C. 
Mclntire,  Thos. 

Oneida  Conference. 
Bristol,  D.  W. 
Bowdish,  A.  C. 
Cleveland,  M.  B. 
Crippen,  J.  T. 
Eichardson,  H.  S. 
Talbott,  H.  V. 

Philadelphia  Conference. 
Burkalow,  J.  T. 
Crouch,  C.  J. 


13 


193 


Fries,  W.  H. 
Gregg,  W.  B. 
Gracey,  S.  L. 
Gregg,  J.  C. 
Gray,  J.  E.  T. 
Hammond,  W. 
Kirkpatrick,  Thos. 
Lame,  J.  S. 
Meredith,  J.  F. 
O'Neill,  W. 
Poulson,  T.  L. 
Eokestraw,  G.  G. 
Smith,  V. 
Thomas,  T.  S. 
Tull,  W.  T. 
Way,  E.  J. 
Welch,  Jos. 
Walton,  W.  B. 

Pittsburgh  Conference. 

Bradley,  E.  W. 
Boyle,  T.  N. 
Brady,  E.  W. 
Castle,  A.  B. 
Guvie,  L.  M. 
High,  J.  C. 
Keagle,  J.  S. 
Locke,  W.  H. 
Lane,  A.  J. 
Leinmod,  J.  S. 
McCleary,  Thos. 
Pierce,  J.  N. 
Petty,  A.  L. 
Thomas,  J.  M. 
Vertican,  F.  W. 
Vail,  J.  D. 
Worthington,  N.  C. 
Williams,  A.  G. 

Providence  Conference. 

Adams,  C.  C 
Commings,  S.  S. 
Gould,  J.  B. 


Appendix. 

Palmer,  A. 
White,  H.  S. 

Eock  Etver  Conference. 
Atchison,  W.  D. 
Clendenning,  J.  M. 
Cartwright,  B.  H. 
Crews,  H. 
Flowers,  J.  W. 
Haggerty,  T.  H. 
Johnson,  Philo. 
Lyon,  G.  G. 
Stuff,  G.  L.  S. 
Stoughton,  J.  C. 
Satterfield,  T.  E. 
Smith,  W.  H. 
Teed,  D. 

South  East  Indiana  Confer- 
erence. 

Adams  S.  E. 
Brouse,  J.  A. 
Cotton,  Jas. 
Crawford,  J.  M. 
Gatch,  B.  F. 
Hurlburt,  L. 
Lozier,  J.  H. 
Saunders,  W.  T. 
Snyder,  W.  W. 

South  Illinois  Conference. 
Bruner,  W.  B. 
Clifford,  Z.  S. 
Compton,  G.  W. 
Cliffe,  W. 
Chipman,  H.  O. 
Davis,  J.  P. 
Eldridge,  W.  V. 
Gillham,  J.  D. 
Houts,  T.  F. 
Lane,  J.  W. 
Lockwood,  J.  H. 
Massey,  R.  H. 
Miner,  E.  H. 


Appendix. 


Morrison,  A.  B. 
Eansom,  A. 
Woodard,  J.  B. 
Walker,  L.  S. 

Troy  Conference. 
Barber,  L. 
Bowdrye,  L.  N. 
Clemens,  S.  W. 
Eaton,  J.  W. 
Farr,  A.  A. 
Hager,  C.  L. 
Marshall,  L. 
Mevill,  S.  M. 
Eobinson,  R.  H. 
White,  M. 

Upper  Iowa  Conference. 

Eberhardt,  U. 
Kendig,  A.  B. 
Trusdell,  C.  G. 
Vincent,  F.  W. 
Webb,  John. 

Vermont  Conference. 
Dickinson,  L.  C. 
Dayton,  D.  W. 
Mack,  D.  A. 
Roberts,  J.  L. 
Simons,  V.  M. 
Webster,  A. 
Webster,  Harvey. 

West  Iowa  Conference. 
Goodfellow,  T.  N. 
Smith,  D.  N. 


West  Wisconsin  Conference. 
Brunson,  Alfred. 
Hammond,  B.  C. 
Langley,  Robert. 
Walter,  A.  H. 
Weirick,  C.  E. 

West  Virginia  Conference. 
Battelle,  G. 
Drummond,  J. 
Gregg,  A.  W. 
Hower,  R.  W. 
Irwin,  J.  L. 
Lydia,  A.  J. 
Lyon,  A.  J. 
Martin,  Gildeon. 
Monroe,  T.  H. 
Reger,  J.  W. 
Steele,  Samuel. 
Trainer,  T.  H. 
Wallace,  R.  M. 

Wisconsin  Conference. 
Fallows,  Samuel. 
Jones,  D.  O. 
Pillsbury,  C.  D. 
Walker,  J.  M. 
Walter,  A.  H. 

Wyoming  Conference. 
Gavitt,  W.  H. 
Roberts,  E.  F. 
Schoomaker,  A.  H. 
Weiss,  S.  W. 
Wyatt,  W. 
Wheeler,  Henry. 


195 


Appendix. 


Union  Chaplains  From  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South. 


Missouri  Conference. 
Powell,  A.  H. 
Senby,  W. 

Kentucky  Conference. 
Boyles,  S.  J. 
Axline,  D.  W. 
Johnston,  J.  J. 
Eads,  John  R. 


Buckner,  E.  P.,  surgeon  in 

United  States  Army. 
Parker,  L.  D. 

Louisville  Conference. 
Lesley,  M.  N. 
Bristow,  J.  H. 
Burge,  H.  T. 
Gardner,  Robt.  G. 


196 


APPENDIX  B. 


Methodist  Ministers  Who  Were  Delegates  of 
the  United  States  Christian  Commission. 


Name.  1862.  Conference. 

Alday,  J.  H  Philadelphia. 

Best,  Wesley  C  Philadelphia. 

Bodine,  Henry  H  Philadelphia. 

Boyle,  W.  E  New  Jersey. 

Crouch,  C.  J  Philadelphia. 

Dobbins,  Jas.  B  New  Jersey. 

Gilroy,  Henry  E  Philadelphia. 

Grocy,  S.  L  Philadelphia. 

King,  Isaiah  D  New  Jersey. 

McCullough,  J.  B  Philadelphia. 

Owen,  Roger  Philadelphia. 

Patterson,  D.  L  Philadelphia. 

Robinson,  W.  C  Philadelphia. 

Ruth,  Jno  Philadelphia. 

Smith,  Wm.  C  New  York. 

Steele,  David   Genesee. 

Thomas,  S.  W  Philadelphia. 

Westwood,  H.  C  Baltimore,  Md. 

Wood,  W.  B  Philadelphia. 

1863. 

Abbott,  J.  T  New  England. 

Adair,  J.  M  Ohio. 

Atkinson,  H.  K  Maine. 

Baird,  J.  N  Pittsburgh. 

Beck,  F.  H  Black  River. 

Bent,  G.  R  New  England. 

Bidwell,  I.  G  Troy. 

Brown,  Azra  Cincinnati. 

Brown,  Jno.  W  East  Baltimore. 

Brown,  J.  H  East  Baltimore. 

Castle,  J.  H  Philadelphia. 

197 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Chalker,  E.  A  New  Jersey. 

Cooper,  G.  W  East  Baltimore. 

Crawford,  Jas.  M  New  York  East. 

Crouch,  C.  J  Philadelphia. 

Cummings,  Silas  S  Providence. 

Cushing,  S.  A  *.New  England. 

Doyan,  J.  F  Black  Eiver. 

De  Forrest,  J.  A  New  Hampshire. 

Eddy,  T.  M  Eock  River. 

Erwin,  Jas  Black  Eiver. 

Faulks,  Jas.  B  Newark. 

Fliiit.  E  Black  Eiver. 

Freeman,  J.  M  Newark. 

Gilbert,  G.  S  New  York  East. 

Graves,  A.  S  Oneida. 

Gregg,  Wm.  B  Philadelphia. 

Hambleton,  W.  J  New  England. 

Hance,  Edmund  New  Jersey. 

Hawes,  Edward   Indiana. 

Heysinger,  J.  L  Philadelphia. 

High,  W.  C  New  England. 

Holman,  C  New  Hampshire. 

Hwin,  Henry  F  Philadelphia. 

Jackson,  S  New  England. 

Janes,  E.  S.  (Bishop)  

Kramer,  Jno.  W  New  Jersey. 

Lawrence,  J  Kansas. 

Lent,  II  E  New  York. 

Little,  C.  J  Philadelphia. 

Lore,  Dallas  D  Genesee. 

Lybrand,  G.  W  Philadelphia. 

McCullough,  J.  B  Philadelphia. 

McLoughlin,  Jas  Philadelphia. 

McMillon,  J  Maine. 

Milby,  Arthur  W  Philadelphia. 

Murphy,  Thos.  C  Philadelphia. 

Myers,  Thos  Baltimore. 

Palmer,  A.  M  Newark. 

Parker,  Jas.  E  Detroit. 

Patterson,  D.  L  Philadelphia. 

Pilcher,  E.  H  Detroit. 

Eeed,  Seth  Detroit. 

Eissell,  Jno  Detroit. 

198 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Euth,  Jno  Philadelphia. 

Scott,  Alex  Pittsburgh. 

Shaw,  W.  H  Genesee. 

Shove,  Benj  Oneida. 

Smith,  J.  B  Central  Illinois. 

Smith,  Jos  New  York  East. 

Taylor,  Jno.  C.  .'  Pittsburgh. 

Taylor,  W.  H  Central  Ohio. 

Thomas,  S.  W  Philadelphia. 

Thomas,  C.  F  East  Baltimore. 

Torrence,  I.  H  East  Baltimore. 

Virgin,  E.  W  New  England. 

Wallace,  H  Newark. 

Westwood,  H.  C  Baltimore. 

White,  Jno.  N  

Whitney,  Nelson   East  Maine. 

Williomas,  T.  J  Newark. 

Winslow,  E.  D  New  England. 

Woods,  F  New  England. 

Woolston,  B.  F  New  Jersey. 

Zimmerman,  J  Black  Eiver. 

1864. 

Alday,  J.  H.  Philadelphia. 

Allen,  John   Philadelphia. 

Appleford,  D  Eock  Eiver. 

Ashworth,  J  East  Genesee. 

Austin,  C.  H  Black  Eiver. 

Bockus,  A.  L  Genesee. 

Bailey,  N.  M  New  Hampshire. 

Baker,  A.  S  East  Genesee. 

Ballow,  Geo.  W  Maine. 

Barber,  E.  E  Black  Eiver. 

Barnes,  J.  B  Black  Eiver. 

Barns,  E.  M  Southeastern  Indiana. 

Beale,  S.  H  East  Maine. 

Beggs,  S.  E  Eock  Eiver. 

Bennett,  H.  W  Black  Eiver. 

Bennett,  P.  S  Wisconsin. 

Bent,  G.  E  New  England. 

Bingham,  I.  S  Black  Eiver. 

Bixby,  Wm  Oneida. 

Blakeslee,  G.  H  Wyoming. 

199 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Boole,  W.  H  New  York  East. 

Booth,  Jno.  F  New  York  East. 

Boswell,  W.  L  Philadelphia. 

Bowen,  C.  M  Black  Eiver. 

Breckenridge,  E.  W  Wyoming. 

Brekenridge,  J.  S  New  York  East. 

Brindle,  Jas.  A  Philadelphia. 

Brooks,  D  Minnesota. 

Brown,  Azra  Cincinnati. 

Brown,  A.  H  Pittsburgh. 

Brown,  J.  N  Black  Eiver. 

Buck,  W.  D  Genesee. 

Brown,  S.  E  Black  River. 

Buck,  J.  H  Black  River. 

Bull,  J.  M  East  Genesee. 

Bwidick,  C.  F  Troy. 

Burr,  W.  N  Oneida. 

Burt,  Sylvester  Pittsburgh. 

Bush,  E.  G  Oneida. 

Callahan,  D  Cincinnati. 

Campbell,  Jno  New  York. 

Carr,  J.  M  Pittsburgh. 

Castle,  J.  H  Philadelphia. 

Chapman,  G.  E  New  England. 

Chase,  L.  N  New  Hampshire. 

Chase,  Moses  Providence. 

Clark,  J.  L  Western  Virginia. 

Clark,  Jonas  M  New  England. 

Clarke,  H.  R  

Clarke,  W.  R  New  England. 

Clendenning,  T.  C  Rock  River. 

Collins,  H.  B  Southeastern  Indiana. 

Comfort,  G  Wyoming. 

Cookman,  A  New  York. 

Cooper,  Jas.  W  Philadelphia. 

Copeland,  A.  T  Black  River. 

Cordon,  J.  R  Detroit. 

Coyle,  Jno  Newark. 

Cramer,  M.  J  Cincinnati. 

Cullis,  Wm.  B  New  Jersey. 

Cunningham,  J  Philadelphia. 

Cushing,  S.  A  New  England. 

Dayon,  J.  F  Black  River. 

200 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

De  Forrest,  J.  A  New  Hampshire. 

De  Haas,  F.  S  New  York  East. 

Dobbins,  J.  B  New  Jersey. 

Elliott,  J.  E  Philadelphia. 

England,  G.  A  Wisconsin. 

Erwin,  J  Black  Eiver. 

Evans,  J.  G  Central  Illinois. 

Faulks,  J.  B  Newark. 

Feather,  J.  B  Western  Virginia. 

Fellows,  Geo  Wisconsin. 

Ferguson,  A.  H  New  York. 

Fletcher,  J  East  Maine. 

Foster,  Boswell  East  Maine. 

Fox,  C.  S  East  Genesee. 

Fox,  H  Oneida. 

Fulford,  D  Black  Eiver. 

Fuller,  S.  E  Black  Eiver. 

Gardiner,  Austin  Providence. 

Gardiner,  L.  M  East  Baltimore. 

Gibson,  O.  L  East  Genesee. 

Godfrey,  A.  C  East  Maine. 

Gould,  Albert   New  England. 

Graves,  Prof.  Jackson  Troy. 

Gregg,  W.  B  Philadelphia. 

Haines,  Selden   Des  Moines. 

Hall,  E  North  Indiana. 

Hall,  Geo.  A  Troy. 

Hamilton,  S.  L  Central  Illinois. 

Hardy,  J.  B  Iowa. 

Harlow,  E.  W  Vermont. 

Hartsough,  L  Oneida. 

Hascall,  W.  M  East  Genesee. 

Hatfield,  E.  M  New  York  East. 

Hawes,  Edw  Indiana. 

Hawks,  Jno  Maine. 

Haynes,  Z.  S  Vermont. 

(Hill,  J.  B.)   

Hobart,  G  Northwest  Wisconsin. 

(Holmes,  J.  M.)  

Hopkins,  S.  M  Genesee. 

Hull,  J.  F  Cincinnati. 

Hunt,  S  Genesee. 

Irwin,  Jos.  L  Western  Virginia. 

201 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Jamison,  J.  M  Ohio. 

Jaques,  Parker  Maine. 

Jewell,  F.  F  Black  Kiver. 

Johnson,  Thos.  S  Illinois. 

Jones,  J.  F  Pittsburgh. 

Jones,  X.   Genesee. 

Kennedy,  S.  Y  Pittsburgh. 

Kenyon,  S.  F  Black  Kiver. 

King,  J.  D  Providence. 

King,  S.  W  New  York  East. 

(Kline,  J.  A.)   

Kmett,  J.  B  East  Genesee. 

Knowles,  J.  H  Genesee. 

Knox,  J.  D  Pittsburgh. 

La  Croix,  Prof.  P.  J  Ohio. 

Lane,  J.  W  Southern  Illinois. 

Lathrop,  C.  G  Wisconsin. 

Lawrence,  Jno  Kansas. 

Leake,  Thos  Eock  Kiver. 

Legate,  O.  M  Black  Kiver. 

Little,  C.  E  Troy. 

Little,  J.  S  Vermont. 

Littlewood,  T  New  York  East. 

Luce,  Israel   Vermont. 

Lytle,  David  Troy. 

Manning,  Wm  East  Genesee. 

Markliam,  W.  F  Cincinnati. 

Marlay,  J.  F  Cincinnati. 

Marsh,  J  Erie. 

Marshall,  W.  K  Pittsburgh. 

Martindale,  T.  E  Philadelphia. 

Mason,  C.  C  Maine. 

Mason,  J  Cincinnati. 

Mast,  Isaac  Philadelphia. 

McAllister,  Wm  New  York  East. 

Me  Ann,  Isaac  Vermont. 

McClelland,  J.  F  Philadelphia. 

McCullough,  J.  B  Philadelphia. 

McDonald,  Wm  Providence. 

McDowall,  O.  M  Wyoming. 

McLaughlin,  G.  W  Philadelphia, 

Mead,  A.  P  Rock  River. 

Metealf,  Jno.  E  Vermont. 

202 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Miller,  J.  V.  R  North  Indiana. 

Mitchell,  Jno  Maine. 

Moore,  James  D  East  Baltimore. 

Morell,  J.  F  New  Jersey. 

Morris,  G.  K  New  Jersey. 

Morrinson,  J.  B  Southeastern  Indiana. 

Morton,  A.  D  Erie. 

Munger,  E.  H  Black  River. 

Murphy,  T.  C  Philadelphia. 

Newell,  C.  H  New  England. 

Newhouse,  J.  E  Northwest  Indiana. 

Nichols,  Starr  East  Genesee. 

Noble,  C  New  England. 

Norris,  W.  H  New  York  East. 

Owen,  A  New  Jersey. 

Paine,  J.  L  Upper  Iowa. 

Parker,  Jno  East  Genesee. 

Parrott,  Geo  Cincinnati. 

Parsons,  S  Newark. 

Patterson,  Samuel   Philadelphia. 

Peck,  Luther,   Wyoming. 

Petty,  A.  L  Pittsburgh. 

Pratt,  A.  L  Vermont. 

Quigley,  Geo  Philadelphia. 

Ramsdell,  S.  L  Detroit. 

Rauks,  Swanton   Maine. 

Reasoner,  J.  R  Kentucky. 

Reed,  J.  C  Northwest  Indiana. 

Requa,  Henry  Wisconsin. 

Reynolds,  J.  F  Philadelphia. 

Ritchie,  H  Central  Illinois. 

Roberts,  J.  W  Philadelphia. 

Roberts,  Robert   Southern  Indiana. 

Robertson,  D.  A  Southern  Indiana. 

Robinson,  J.  M  Cincinnati. 

Robinson,  R.  S  Iowa. 

Robinson,  W.  J  East  Maine. 

Rose,  R.  S  Wyoming. 

Salisbury,  A.  B  Genesee. 

Satchwell,  H.  P  New  England. 

Scott,  A  Pittsburgh. 

Sharp,  J.  M.  C  Southeastern  Indiana. 

Shaw,  L.  L  East  Maine. 

203 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Shelling,  Chas  Genesee. 

Shier,  Wm.  H  Detroit. 

Shinn,  John   Cincinnati. 

Simon  son,  W.  H  New  York  East. 

Smith,  B  North  Indiana. 

Smith,  C.  W  Pittsburgh. 

Smith,  G.  A  Wisconsin. 

Smith,  D  Northwest  Indiana. 

Smith,  H  Troy. 

Spencer,  F.  A  Ohio. 

Steley,  E.  H  Northwest  Indiana. 

Steele,  G.  M  New  England. 

Stivers,  T.  S  Ohio. 

Stowe,  G  Detroit. 

Stubbs,  R.  S  New  Hampshire. 

Sutton,  Jos.  S  Detroit. 

Tait,  T.  B  Erie. 

Taplin,  G.  P  Vermont. 

Taylor,  B.  F  Upper  Iowa. 

Taylor,  H.  B  Southern  Illinois. 

Taylor,  J.  0  Pittsburgh. 

Teed,  David   Rock  River. 

Thomas,  C.  F  East  Baltimore. 

Thomas,  S.  W  Philadelphia. 

Thompson,  J.  J  Cincinnati. 

Tiffony,  W.  H  Troy. 

Tonsey,  Thos  East  Genesee. 

Townsend,  G.  H  Vermont. 

Tuttle,  J.  K  East  Genesee. 

Vrooman,  J  Troy. 

Warner,  H  Vermont. 

Warner,  P  Central  Illinois. 

Warren,  H.  W  New  England. 

Watkins,  W.  F  New  York  East. 

Wells,  M.  S  Oneida. 

Westwood,  H.  C  Baltimore. 

Wheeler,  H  Wyoming. 

(White,  A.)   

Whitney,  Nelson  . .  . ,  East  Maine. 

Whitlock,  Prof.  W.  F  Central  Ohio. 

Widmer,  F  Troy. 

Williams,  H.  G  New  Jersey. 

Williams,  J.  R  Indiana. 

204 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Wilson,  B.  F  Missouri  and  Arkansas. 

Wohlgemuth,  W  East  Genesee. 

Wood,  A  New  Hampshire. 

Woodruff,  G.  W  New  York  East. 

Young,  Wm  Cincinnati. 

1865. 

Alabaster,  J  East  Genesee. 

Badgley,  O  Newark. 

Baker,  Jno.  E  Wisconsin. 

Ball,  F  Western  Virginia. 

Bancroft,  Geo.  C  Vermont. 

Barkdull,  T.  N  Central  Ohio. 

Barnes,  D.  F  Northwest  Indiana. 

Bartels,  Jno  Central  Illinois. 

Beatty,  Eobert   Erie. 

Benham,  W.  R  East  Genesee. 

Bolles,  S  Minnesota. 

Bower,  A  Central  Illinois. 

Boyd,  R.  B  Erie. 

Bradley,  Wm  East  Genesee. 

Brigham,  Alf  Wyoming. 

Brooks,  C.  W  Wisconsin. 

Brown,  S.  E  Black  River. 

Brown,  W.  N  Upper  Iowa. 

Bryont,  Geo.  W  New  Hampshire. 

Buckles,  L.  C  Northwest  Indiana. 

Capen,  Jno.  S  New  England. 

Carroll,  Geo.  K  New  York  East. 

Chamberlayne,  C.  S.  ,  Genesee. 

Clark,  D.  W.  (Bishop)  

Coult,  A.  C  New  Hampshire. 

Crafts,  F.  A  Providence. 

Damon,  A.  N  Black  River. 

Dinsmore,  C.  M  New  Hampshire. 

Eddy,  C  Genesee. 

Edwards,  H.  B  Pittsburgh. 

Farrington,  W.  F  Providence. 

Fitch  (New  York  Mills,  N.  Y.)  New  York. 

Foster,  A  Wisconsin. 

Foster,  Jno.  Q  Rock  River. 

Fuller,  A  Black  River. 

Furler,  Franklin   New  England. 

205 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Gale,  Solomon  (G.)  New  York. 

Gee,  A.  A  Northwest  Indiana, 

Gill,  J  Vermont. 

Graves,  Horace  Black  Eiver. 

Graves,  W.  P  Central  Illinois. 

Grumley,  E.  S  Wisconsin. 

Hall,  Jno.  H  Oneida. 

Hartley,  W.  S  Cincinnati. 

Hartupee,  G.  H  North  Ohio. 

Hawes,  Edw  Indiana. 

Hawkins,  L  Eock  Eiver. 

Henderson,  J.  E  Central  Ohio. 

Henson,  Jos  New  York  East. 

Hitchcock,  J.  C  East  Genesee. 

Hitchens,  Geo  New  Jersey. 

Hobbs,  H.  A  Central  Illinois. 

Horton,  A.  A  Erie. 

Hotchkiss,  E  East  Genesee. 

Hoyt,  James  Michigan. 

Hunt,  A.  S  New  York  East. 

Irwin,  G.  M  Central  Illinois. 

Janes,  E.  S.  (Bishop)   

Johnson,  W.  C  Philadelphia. 

Johnson,  W.  W  Michigan. 

Jones,  W  East  Genesee. 

King,  C.  A  Maine. 

Klepper,  J.  W  Minnesota. 

Lathrop,  E  Kentucky. 

Lawson,  Jas  West  Wisconsin. 

Lee,  Geo.  D  Michigan. 

Loriusberry,  H  New  York. 

Lowe,  Geo.  W  Detroit. 

Lyon,  C.  W  New  York. 

Marlay,  J.  F  Cincinnati. 

Martin,  H.  L  Eock  Eiver. 

Martin,  J.  W  Eock  Eiver. 

Martin,  N.  H  New  England. 

Mason,  J.  W  Cincinnati. 

McCabe,  C.  C  Ohio. 

McClain,  J.  F  Southeastern  Indiana. 

McLean,  C.  F  Upper  Iowa. 

Meharry,  A  Cincinnati. 

Meville,  J.  H  New  England. 

206 


Appendix. 


Name.  Conference. 

Moore,  J.  H  Illinois. 

Nadal,  B.  H  Baltimore. 

Norton,  J.  D  Erie. 

Osborne,  W.  M  West  Wisconsin. 

Patterson,  Eobert  Troy. 

Pearne,  T.  H  Holston. 

Pike,  J  New  Hampshire. 

Picher,  J.  N  Ohio. 

Porter,  Jeremiah   New  England. 

Potter,  Wm  East  Genesee. 

Prettyman,  W  Ohio. 

Eitchie,  H  Central  Illinois. 

Bobbins,  J.  C  Wisconsin. 

Ross,  Jas.  H  East  Genesee. 

Smith,  Jesse   Minnesota. 

Smith,  Wm.  A  Rock  River. 

Stevenson,  T  Southern  Illinois. 

Taylor,  G.  L  New  York  East. 

Taylor,  J.  D  Central  Illinois. 

Tinsley,  Chas  Southeastern  Indiana. 

Tupper,  Samuel   New  England. 

Vance,  Jos  Cincinnati. 

Viele,  A  Troy. 

Virgin,  E.  W  New  England. 

Wallser,  T.   Wisconsin. 

Wallace,  H  Illinois. 

Wasmuth,  E  Central  Illinois. 

Waters,  W.  G  Central  Ohio. 

Wayne,  Jos  Genesee. 

Wells,  M.  L  Southeastern  Indiana. 

Wheeler,  A  North  Ohio. 

Wight,  W.  H  Vermont. 

Williams,  M  Erie. 


207 


APPENDIX  C. 


Letter  to  Jefferson  Davis  By  a  Confederate 
Officer,  Concerning  Bishop  Ames. 

Office  of  Commissary  of  Substance 
and  Quartermaster  Cavalry  Brigade. 
Gainesville,  Prince  William  Co.,  Va. 

February  5,  1862. 

His  Excellency  Jefferson  Davis, 

President  of  the  Confederate  States. 
Sir  :  I  hope  you  will  pardon  this  intrusion.  A  sense 
of  duty  impels  me  to  write  to  you  and,  if  you  will  not 
consider  it  presumption,  utter  a  word  of  warning.  I 
see  that  Rev.  Bishop  Ames,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  has  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment as  one  of  the  proposed  visitors  and  inspectors  of 
Richmond  prisoners  of  war  and  their  prisons.  I  know 
not  whether  they  will  be  allowed  to  enter  our  lines  and 
prosecute  their  mission  or  not.  I  do,  however,  know 
Bishop  Ames.  He  has  been  for  many  years  a  shrewd 
and  potent  politician.  I  am  myself  a  Methodist  preacher 
and  have  been  for  nineteen  years.  I  have  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baltimore  Conference  stationed  for  some 
years  past  in  Baltimore  and  Washington  cities.  I  was 
in  charge  of  a  congregation  in  Baltimore  when  our 
present  troubles  burst  forth  upon  us.  I  resigned  my  con- 
gregation in  June  and  came  to  my  native  Virginia  to 
do  whatever  I  might  for  her  and  the  South.  I  was  im- 
mediately called  into  the  activities  of  the  present  strug- 
gle,— first  as  a  lieutenant  in  a  company  of  mounted  rifle- 
men, then  through  Col.  J.  E.  Stuart's  solicitations 
and  recommendation  you  gave  me  the  appointment  of 

208 


Appendix. 


chaplain  to  the  First  Virginia  Cavalry,  and  subsequently 
my  present  position  upon  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart's 
staff  as  major  and  chief  of  staff  to  his  brigade.  Excuse 
this  apparent  announcement  of  myself  rather  than  an- 
other, about  whom  I  proposed  writing.  I  hope  it  will 
enable  you  the  better  to  appreciate  the  feeble  monitions 
T  desire  to  express  and  the  motives  that  prompt  it. 

For  many  years  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of 
which  I  am  an  humble  minister,  has  been  fearfully  agi- 
tated and  cursed  by  the  same  class  of  fanatics  that  have 
now  brought  this  terrible  disaster  upon  the  Nation.  It 
was  in  vain  that  we  of  the  border  strove  to  stem  this 
maddened  current.  It  swept  onward  and  onward  de- 
spite all  varieties  of  pleadings  and  remonstrances,  bear- 
ing down  one  safeguard  after  another,  till  it  reached  its 
culmination  in  the  legislation  of  our  late  General  Con- 
ference, held  in  Buffalo  last  May  one  year.  Subse- 
quently the  ministers  and  the  laity  of  our  Conference 
voted  themselves  from  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  said 
General  Conference.  In  all  this  protracted  controversy 
Bishop  Ames's  sympathies,  and  indeed  most  of  our 
bishops  were  with  the  North.  I  know  Bishop  Ames  to 
be  an  uncompromising  anti-slavery  man,  not  to  say  abo- 
litionist. He  with  other  members  of  the  bench  of  bishops 
sought  to  impress  upon  the  present  President  of  the 
United  States  and  his  Cabinet  upon  their  accession  to 
power  the  fact  that  the  Methodist  Church,  very  numer- 
ous in  the  North  and  West,  had  peculiar  claims  upon  the 
Government  for  a  liberal  share  of  the  spoils  of  office, 
as  they  had  so  largely  contributed  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  elec- 
tion, at  the  same  time  disavowing  any  particular  claim 
upon  the  outgoing  administration.  I  might  detail  many 
facts  to  corroborate  this  representation  of  the  dangerous 
and  corrupt  antecedents  of  this  high  Church  dignitary, 
but  I  fear  it  might  weary  you.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  I 
am  positively  certain,  from  personal  knowledge,  that 
Bishop  Ames,  with  many  others  whom  I  might  name  of 
14  209 


Appendix. 


high  position  in  our  Church  in  the  North,  have  aided 
most  fearfully  by  the  influence  of  their  position  and 
their  known  sentiments  to  augment  the  power  of  the  abo- 
lition party  in  the  North,  and  to  precipitate  the  horrid 
and  unnatural  alienation  and  bloody  war  in  which  we 
are  now  engaged.  We  are  now  forced  to  the  terrible 
necessity  in  the  vindication  and  defense  of  our  most 
sacred  and  cherished  rights  to  sacrifice  many  of  the  best 
and  noblest  of  our  brothers  upon  freedom's  altars;  but 
let  us  meanwhile  beware  of  those  who  have  forced  us  into 
this  attitude  of  defense  against  the  most  iniquitous  and 
oppressive  tyranny  ever  attempted  to  be  imposed  upon 
an  enlightened  people. 

Allow  me,  in  conclusion,  Mr.  President,  to  warn  you 
against  this  astute  politician,  who  in  the  garb  of  a  Chris- 
tian minister  and  with  the  specious  plea  of  " humanity" 
upon  his  lips,  would  insinuate  himself  into  the  very 
heart  of  that  Government  whose  very  foundation  he 
would  most  gladly  sap  and  destroy.  You  can  make  any 
use  of  this  letter  your  judgment  dictates,  and  if  you 
deem  it  worthy  of  attention  you  will  pardon  the  liberty 
I  have  taken  in  view  of  the  patriotic  motives  which  have 
prompted  it.  I  respectfully  refer  you  to  Wyndham 
Robertson,  Esq.,  of  your  city,  if  you  deem  it  necessary 
to  know  me  further  before  considering  the  information 
I  have  communicated. 

Most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Darbey  Ball. 

From  the  " Official  Records,"  Series  II,  vol.  iii,  pp.  787,  788. 


210 


APPENDIX  D. 


Patriotic  Addresses  of  Bishop  Simpson. 

The  bishop  began  his  lecture  in  the  Academy  of 
Music  in  New  York  in  1864  by  saying: 

"I  would  stand  far  above  all  party;  I  have  no  epi- 
thets for  any  of  my  fellow-citizens.  [As  it  was  his  pur- 
pose to  give  his  discourse  a  firm  body  of  logic,  he  out- 
lined four  possible  issues  of  the  war.]  First:  It  is  a 
possible  result  of  this  conflict  that  we  may  become  a  prey 
to  some  foreign  powers  and  be  reduced  under  their 
control.  There  is  a  second  possible  result  of  this  contest : 
that  the  Nation  may  be  divided  into  two  or  more  sepa- 
rate confederacies.  There  is  a  third  possible  issue: 
that  the  Nation  may  remain  united,  but  with  its 
present  institutions  overthrown,  and  Southern  institu- 
tions and  Southern  ideas  established.  The  fourth 
and  last  possible  issue  is  that  our  Nation,  having  passed 
through  this  fiery  ordeal,  may  come  out  of  it  purer, 
stronger,  and  more  glorious  than  ever  before.  At  this 
point  I  will  simply  say  that  I  believe  it  to  be  the  de- 
sign of  Providence  to  secure  the  last  result.  Taking  up 
the  first  topic.  No  great  nation  has,  in  all  history,  risen 
and  fallen  in  a  single  century.  Moreover,  there  are 
indications  to  show  that  this  is  destined  to  be  a  great 
Nation  in  the  earth.  The  discovery  of  America  by  Co- 
lumbus, at  the  time  thereof,  was  opportune.  This  Nation 
has  done  more  than  any  other  to  fulfill  a  great  destiny. 
One  thing  it  has  done  towards  the  accomplishment  of 
its  work  is  the  education  of  the  masses.  In  this  land 
all  may  rise  to  the  highest  offices.  The  humblest  cabin- 
boy  may  lead  our  armies,  and  the  poor  hostler  may  sit 
in  the  Senate.   Who  has  not  heard  of  Henry  Clay,  the 

211 


Appendix. 


Millboy  of  the  Slashes,  and  Jackson,  the  child  of  poor 
Irish  parents!  And  some  may  have  heard  that  even  a 
rail-splitter  may  become  President !  Again,  this  Nation 
is  an  asylum  for  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  There  is 
no  large  migration  to  any  other  land,  but  men  come  here 
from  all  parts  of  the  world.  I  have  no  feeling  of  sym- 
pathy with  any  person  who  will  seek  to  exclude  from 
free  national  association  all  who  may  come.  We  have 
broad  acres  for  them  to  cultivate,  schools  for  their  chil- 
dren and  churches  for  themselves,  and  a  Constitution 
broad  enough,  thank  God!  and  strong  enough  for  all 
the  world  to  stand  upon.  This  Nation  has  the  sympathy 
of  the  masses  all  over  the  earth,  and  if  the  world  is  to 
be  raised  to  its  proper  place,  I  would  say  it  with  all 
reverence,  God  can  not  do  without  America. 

' 1  Then  comes  the  second  question,  Shall  the  Nation  be 
divided  ?  If  we  divide,  where  shall  we  divide  ?  We  have 
no  mountain  chains,  no  great  natural  landmarks  to  sepa- 
rate us  into  two;  and  if  we  divide,  must  it  not  be  into 
several  confederacies?  If  you  allow  the  South  to  go. 
then  the  Northwest  will  become  a  separate  confederacy ; 
and  when  the  Northwest  undertakes  that,  the  people  of 
the  Pacific  Coast  will  set  up  for  themselves,  and  you  will 
lose  all  that  gold-bearing  country.  I  tell  you  here  to- 
day, I  would  not  give  one  cent  on  the  dollar  for  your 
National  liabilities  if  you  allow  a  single  dividing  line 
to  be  run  through  your  country  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  I  deprecate  war,  it  is  terrible;  much  of  the 
best  blood  of  the  Nation  has  flowed,  and  more,  possibly, 
will  moisten  the  earth ;  but  if  Ave  should  divide  this  land 
into  petty  sections,  there  will  come  greater  strife,  which 
will  waste  the  blood  of  your  children  and  grandchildren, 
and  there  will  be  sorrow  and  wailing  throughout  the 
generations  to  come.  When  I  look  at  this  dark  picture, 
much  as  I  dislike  war,  I  yet  say,  better  now  fight  for 
twenty  years  and  have  peace  than  stop  where  we  are. 
If  any  peace  is  had,  I  want  a  peace  which  shall  be  last- 

212 


Appendix. 


ing,  so  that  I  can  leave  my  wife  and  children  safe  when 
I  die,  and  that  can  only  be  by  our  remaining  a  united 
Nation.  We  have  glorious  boundaries  on  the  north  and 
the  south,  on  the  east  and  the  west,  and  when  I  look 
at  those  boundaries  I  say,  'Palsied  be  the  hand  which 
shall  try  to  wrest  from  us  one  foot  of  this  great  domain. ' 

1 1  Then  the  question  comes,  '  Shall  our  form  of  govern- 
ment be  changed  ? '  This  is  what  Mr.  Davis  expects ;  he 
can  hardly  suppose  the  South  will  live  in  separation. 
They  at  the  South  expected  that  this  great  city  would 
declare  itself  independent ;  but  this  city  has  a  heart  that 
throbs  in  sympathy  with  the  Nation,  and  stands  out, 
as  it  ought,  as  the  National  metropolis.  The  South  hopes 
for  a  monarchy,  but  this  Nation  will  never  tolerate  a 
monarchy. 

"If  these  three  results  are  not  likely  to  happen,  then 
shall  we,  as  a  people,  emerge  from  this  contest  purer 
and  more  glorious  than  before.  The  Nation  must  be 
purified,  and  for  that  we  are  going  through  the  war. 
The  war  is  nothing  new;  the  South  has  been  preparing 
for  it  for  thirty  years.  At  the  same  time  a  series  of 
providences  has  appeared  which  shows  the  hand  of  God. 

"I  have  one  more  impression,  that  if  this  war  lasts 
much  longer  slavery  will  be  damaged.  It  is  seriously 
damaged  now,  and  I  hope  and  desire  that  it  may  pass 
away  quickly  and  let  us  see  the  last  of  it.  Do  you  ask 
what  has  been  accomplished  ?  The  District  of  Columbia 
has  been  made  free,  and  this  week — on  the  last  Tuesday 
— the  sun,  as  it  rose,  shone  for  the  first  time  on  the 
glorious  State  of  Maryland.  West  Virginia,  from  her 
mountain  home,  echoes  back  the  shouts  of  freedom.  But 
this  war  ought  not  to  be  carried  on  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  slavery,  or  for  any  other  than  the  single 
purpose  of  restoring  the  authority  of  our  Government. 
But  if,  while  we  are  striking  blows  at  the  rebellion, 
slavery  will  come  and  put  its  black  head  between  us  and 
the  rebels,  then  let  it  perish  along  with  them.   Our  chil- 

213 


Appendix. 


dren  can  look  back  to  the  battles  of  the  Revolution  and 
assure  themselves  that  their  fathers  were  worthy  of 
freedom.  Let  the  children  of  these  poor  slaves  have  the 
chance  to  look  back  not  only  to  Fort  Pillow,  but  to  the 
battles  fought  and  won  in  front  of  Petersburg  and  Rich- 
mond, and  they  will  feel  that  they,  too,  are  worthy  of 
freedom.  It  has  been  demonstrated  in  this  war  that  a 
blue  coat  can  make  a  hero  even  of  a  sable  skin.  The 
black  men  have  long  ago  learned  to  follow  the  stars; 
they  have  followed  the  North  Star  successfully,  and  now 
it  is  shown  that  they  can  follow,  as  well  as  any  others, 
the  stars  that  are  set  in  our  glorious  flag. 

"Your  Fifty-fifth  Regiment  carried  this  flag  [taking 
up  a  war-worn,  shot-riddled  flag,  which  was  greeted 
with  tremendous  cheers]  ;  it  has  been  at  Newbern,  and 
at  South  Mountain,  and  at  Antietam.  The  blood  of 
our  brave  boys  is  upon  it ;  the  bullets  of  rebels  have  gone 
through  and  through  it ;  yet  it  is  the  same  old  flag.  Our 
fathers  followed  that  flag;  we  expect  that  our  children 
and  our  children's  children  will  follow  it;  there  is  noth- 
ing on  earth  like  that  old  flag  for  beauty.  Long  may 
those  stars  shine !  Just  now  there  are  clouds  upon  it 
and  mists  gathering  around  it,  but  the  stars  are  coming 
out,  and  others  are  joining  them.  And  they  grow 
brighter  and  brighter,  and  so  may  they  shine  till  the 
last  star  in  the  heavens  shall  fall ! ' n 

Oration  of  Bishop  Simpson  at  the  Grave  of 
Lincoln. 

"  Fellow-Citizens  of  Illinois  and  Many  Parts  op 
Our  Entire  Union  :  Near  the  capital  of  this  large  and 
growing  State  of  Illinois,  in  the  midst  of  this  beautiful 
grove,  and  at  the  open  mouth  of  the  vault  which  has 
just  received  the  remains  of  our  fallen  chieftain,  we 
gather  to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  and  drop  the  tears 
of  sorrowr.    A  little  more  than  four  years  ago  he  left 

1  Crooks,  ''Life  of  Simpson,"  pp.  379-383. 

214 


Appendix. 


his  plain  and  quiet  home  in  yonder  city,  receiving  the 
parting  words  of  the  concourse  of  friends  who  in  the 
midst  of  the  droppings  of  a  gentle  shower  gathered 
around  him.  He  spoke  of  the  pain  of  leaving  the  place 
where  his  children  had  been  born,  and  where  his  home 
had  been  rendered  so  pleasant  by  many  recollections. 
And  as  he  left  he  made  an  earnest  request  in  the  hear- 
ing of  some  who  are  present  at  this  hour,  that  as  he 
was  about  to  enter  upon  responsibilities  which  he  be- 
lieved to  be  greater  than  those  which  had  fallen  upon 
any  man  since  the  days  of  Washington,  the  people  would 
offer  up  their  prayers  that  God  would  aid  and  sustain 
him  in  the  work  they  had  given  him  to  do.  His  com- 
pany left  your  city;  but  as  it  went,  snares  were  set 
for  the  Chief  Magistrate.  Scarcely  did  he  escape  the 
dangers  of  the  way  or  the  hand  of  the  assassin  as  he 
neared  Washington.  I  believe  he  escaped  only  through 
the  vigilance  of  the  officers  and  the  prayers  of  the  peo- 
ple, so  that  the  blow  was  suspended  for  more  than 
four  years,  which  was  at  last  permitted,  through  the 
providence  of  God,  to  fall. 

"How  different  the  occasion  which  witnessed  his 
departure  from  that  which  witnessed  his  return !  Doubt- 
less you  expected  to  take  him  by  the  hand,  to  feel  the 
warm  grasp  which  you  felt  in  other  days,  and  to  see 
the  tall  form  among  you  which  you  had  delighted  to 
honor  in  years  past.  But  he  was  never  permitted  to  re- 
turn until  he  came  with  lips  mute,  his  frame  encoffined, 
and  a  weeping  Nation  following.  Such  a  scene  as  his 
return  to  you  was  never  witnessed.  Among  the  events 
of  history  there  have  been  great  processions  of  mourn- 
ers. There  was  one  for  the  Patriarch  Jacob,  which  went 
out  of  Egypt,  and  the  Canaanites  wondered  at  the  evi- 
dence of  reverence  and  filial  affection  which  came  from 
the  hearts  of  the  Israelites.  There  was  mourning  when 
Moses  fell  upon  the  heights  of  Pisgah  and  was  hid 
from  human  view.    There  has  been  mourning  in  the 

215 


Appendix. 


kingdoms  of  the  earth  when  kings  and  princes  have 
fallen.  But  never  was  there  in  the  history  of  man 
such  mourning  as  that  which  has  attended  this  progress 
to  the  grave.  If  we  look  at  the  multitudes  that  followed 
him  we  can  see  how  the  Nation  stood  aghast  when  it 
heard  of  his  death.  Tears  filled  the  eyes  of  manly,  sun- 
burned faces.  Strong  men,  as  they  grasped  the  hands 
of  their  friends,  were  unable  to  find  vent  for  their  grief 
in  words.  Women  and  children  caught  up  the  tidings 
as  they  ran  through  the  land,  and  were  melted  into  tears. 
The  Nation  stood  still.  Men  left  their  plows  in  the 
fields  and  asked  what  the  end  should  be.  The  hum  of 
manufactories  ceased,  and  the  sound  of  the  hammer  was 
not  heard.  Busy  merchants  closed  their  doors,  and  in  the 
Exchange  gold  passed  no  more  from  hand  to  hand. 
Though  three  weeks  have  elapsed,  the  Nation  has  scarcely 
breathed  easily.  Men  of  all  political  parties  and  of  all 
religious  creeds  have  united  in  paying  this  tribute.  The 
archbishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  New  York 
and  a  Protestant  minister  walked  side  by  side  in  the 
sad  procession,  and  a  Jewish  rabbi  performed  a  part  of 
the  solemn  service.  Here  are  gathered  around  his  tomb 
the  representatives  of  the  army  and  navy,  senators, 
judges,  and  officers  of  all  the  branches  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Here,  too,  are  members  of  civic  professions,  with 
men  and  women  from  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest 
occupations.  Here  and  there,  too,  are  tears — as  sincere 
and  warm  as  any  that  drop — which  come  from  the  eyes 
of  whose  kindred  and  whose  race  have  been  freed  from 
their  chains  by  him  whom  they  mourn  as  their  deliverer. 
More  races  have  looked  on  the  procession  for  sixteen  hun- 
dred miles — by  night  and  by  day,  by  sunlight,  dawn, 
twilight,  and  by  torchlight — than  ever  before  watched 
the  progress  of  a  procession  on  its  way  to  the  grave. 

"A  part  of  this  deep  interest  has  arisen  from  the 
times  in  which  we  live  and  in  which  he  who  has  fallen 
was  a  leading  actor.    It  is  a  principle  of  our  nature 

216 


Appendix. 


that  feelings,  once  excited,  turn  readily  from  the  object 
by  which  they  are  aroused  to  some  other  object,  which 
may  for  the  time  being  take  possession  of  the  mind. 
Another  law  of  our  nature  is  that  our  deepest  affections 
gather  about  some  human  form  in  which  are  incarnated 
the  living  thoughts  of  the  age.  If  we  look,  then,  at 
the  times,  we  see  an  age  of  excitement.  [These  thoughts 
were  copiously  illustrated.] 

"The  tidings  came  that  Richmond  was  evacuated, 
and  that  Lee  had  surrendered.  The  bells  rang  merrily 
all  over  the  land.  The  booming  of  cannon  was  heard; 
illuminations  and  torchlight  processions  manifested  the 
general  joy,  and  families  looked  for  the  speedy  return 
of  their  loved  ones  from  the  field.  Just  in  the  midst  of 
this,  in  one  hour — nay,  in  one  moment — the  news  was 
flashed  throughout  the  land  that  Abraham  Lincoln  had 
perished  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin;  and  then  all  the 
feeling  which  had  been  gathering  for  four  years,  in 
forms  of  excitement,  grief,  horror,  joy,  turned  into  one 
wail  of  woe — a  sadness  inexpressible.  But  it  is  not 
the  character  of  the  times,  merely,  which  has  made  this 
mourning;  the  mode  of  his  death  must  be  taken  into 
the  account.  Had  he  died  with  kind  friends  around 
him;  had  the  sweat  of  death  been  wiped  from  his  brow 
by  gentle  hands  while  he  was  yet  conscious — how  it 
would  have  softened  or  assuaged  something  of  our  grief ! 
But  no  moment  of  warning  was  given  to  him  or  to  us. 
He  was  stricken  down,  too,  when  his  hopes  for  the 
end  of  the  rebellion  were  bright,  and  prospects  of  a 
calmer  life  were  before  him.  There  was  a  Cabinet  meet- 
ing that  day,  said  to  have  been  the  most  cheerful  of  any 
held  since  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion.  After  this 
meeting  he  talked  with  his  friends,  and  spoke  of  the  four 
years  of  tempest,  of  the  storm  being  over,  and  of  the 
four  years  of  content  now  awaiting  him,  as  the  weight 
of  care  and  anxiety  would  be  taken  from  his  mind.  In 
the  midst  of  these  anticipations  he  left  his  house,  never 

217 


Appendix, 


to  return  alive.  The  evening  was  Good  Friday,  the 
saddest  day  in  the  whole  calendar  for  the  Christian 
Church.  So  filled  with  grief  was  every  Christian  heart 
that  even  the  joyous  thoughts  of  Easter  Sunday  failed 
to  remove  the  sorrow  under  which  the  true  worshiper 
bowed  in  the  house  of  God. 

"But  the  chief  reason  for  this  mourning  is  to  be 
found  in  the  man  himself.  [Here  follows  a  summary 
of  the  character  of  Lincoln.] 

"Standing,  as  we  do  to-day,  by  his  coffin,  let  us  re- 
solve to  carry  forward  the  policy  so  nobly  begun.  Let 
us  do  right  to  all  men.  Let  us  vow,  before  heaven,  to 
eradicate  every  vestage  of  human  slavery ;  to  give  every 
human  being  his  true  position  before  God  and  man:  to 
crush  every  form  of  rebellion,  and  to  stand  by  the  flag 
which  God  has  given  us.  How  joyful  that  it  floated  over 
parts  of  every  State  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  career  was 
ended !  How  singular  that  to  the  fact  of  the  assassin 's 
heel  being  caught  in  the  folds  of  the  flag  we  are  probably 
indebted  for  his  capture.  The  time  will  come  when,  in 
the  beautiful  words  of  him  whose  lips  are  now  forever 
sealed,  'the  mystic  chords  of  memory,  which  stretch  from 
every  battlefield  and  from  every  patriot's  grave,  shall 
yield  a  sweeter  music  when  touched  by  the  angels  of 
our  better  nature. ' 

"Chieftain,  farewell!  The  Nation  mourns  thee. 
.Mothers  shall  teach  thy  name  to  their  lisping  children. 
The  youth  of  our  land  shall  emulate  thy  virtues.  States- 
men shall  study  thy  record,  and  from  it  learn  lessons  of 
wisdom.  Mute  though  thy  lips  be,  yet  they  still  speak. 
Hushed  is  thy  voice,  but  its  echoes  of  liberty  are  ringing 
through  the  world,  and  the  sons  of  bondage  listen  with 
joy.  Thou  didst  fall  not  for  thyself.  The  assassin  had 
no  hate  for  thee.  Our  hearts  were  aimed  at;  our  Na- 
tional life  was  sought.  We  crown  thee  as  our  martyr, 
and  Humanity  enthrones  thee  as  her  triumphant  son. 
Hero,  martyr,  friend,  farewell!" 

218 


APPENDIX  E. 


Preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  the  Confederate  Army. 

The  statement  has  been  commonly  made  that  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  was  as  loyal  to  the 
Confederate  cause  as  was  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  a  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  facts  will  bear  out  this  statement.  I  have 
made  a  list  of  the  Methodist  (South)  chaplains  in  the 
Confederate  Army,  though  it  is  far  from  complete, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  a  number  of  the  Southern  Confer- 
ences did  not  meet  during  the  war,  and  also  to  the  fact 
that  the  Minutes  of  several  of  the  Conferences  which 
did  hold  their  sessions  were  lost.  This  list  by  Confer- 
ences is  as  follows : 


Tennessee  Conferences 
Pitts,  Fountain  E. 
Ellis,  John  A. 
Cullom,  Jeremiah  W. 
Edmondson,  K.  A. 
Stephens,  Berry  M. 
Richey,  James  H. 
Cherry,  Sterling  M. 
Kimball,  Francis  A. 
Hamilton  Alex.  F. 
Whitten,  Moses  L. 
Purtle,  John  M. 
Williams,  Marcus  G. 
Hunter,  R.  S. 
Cross,  Joseph. 
Bailey,  William  M. 
Tribber,  Allen. 


Wilson,  R.  A. 
Petway,  F.  S. 
Browning,  W.  H. 
Gould,  J.  H. 
Lovell,  J.  W. 
Smith,  B.  F. 
Bolton,  J.  G. 
Harrison,  J.  G. 

Holston  Conference. 
Bowman,  W.  C. 
Sullins,  D. 
Manpin,  Milton. 
Wiggins,  Joseph  A. 
Wexler,  Edwin  C. 
Farley,  Francis  A. 
Callahan,  George  W. 


1  There  were  no  sessions  of  the  Tennessee  Conference  in  1863 
or  1864,  and  the  above  list  is  for  the  two  first  years  of  the  war 
only. 

219 


Appendix. 


Glenn,  Thos.  F. 
Waugh,  Henry  P. 
Stringfield,  J.  K. 

Memphis  Conference,  i 
Crouch,  Benj.  T. 
Hamilton,  Ephraim  E. 
Fife,  J.  A. 
Owen,  Wm.  B. 
Payne,  Wm.  S. 
Haskell,  Wm.  C. 
Bwins,  R,  H. 
Ford,  Miles  H. 
Duke,  Thos.  L. 
Deavenport,  Thos.  H. 
MeCutehen,  Jos.  B. 
Mahon,  Wm.  J. 
Porter,  Robt.  G. 
Pearson,  W.  G. 
Mclver,  J.  W. 
Johnson,  W.  C. 

Mississippi  Conference. 
Godfrey,  James  A. 
Swinney,  S.  T. 
Ard,  J.  W. 
Richardson,  J.  P. 
Mortimer,  Geo.  J. 
Ely,  Foster. 
Johnson,  Pickney  A. 
Nicholson,  A.  B. 
Young,  Newton  B. 
Boyls,  Geo.  W. 

Louisiana  Conference.2 
White,  Fredrick. 

Virginia  Conference. 
Granberry,  J.  C. 
Joyner,  James  E. 


August,  P.  F. 
Berry,  Wm.  W. 
Woggoner,  James  R. 
McSparran,  James  E. 
Anderson,  J.  M. 
Booker,  Geo.  E. 
Fitzpatrick,  Jas.  B. 
Garland,  Jas.  P. 
Edwards,  Wm.  E. 
Hardee,  Robert,  Jr. 
Duncan,  Wm.  W. 
Ware,  Thos.  A. 
Bledsoe,  Adam  C. 
Beodles,  Robt.  B. 
Hoyle,  Samuel  V. 
Lafferty,  John  J. 
Spiller,  Benj.  C. 
Hammond,  Wesley  C. 
Blackwell,  John  D. 
Wheelwright,  W.  H. 

West  Virginia  Conference.?- 

North  Carolina  Conference. 
Betts,  A.  D. 
Brent,  O.  J. 
Buie,  John  D. 
Robbins,  Jeffrey  H. 
Wood,  Franklin  H. 
Webb,  Richard  S. 
Dodson,  C.  C. 
Plyler,  Calvin. 
Richardson,  W.  B. 
Hines,  J.  J. 
Alford,  A.  B. 
Moore,  Wm.  H. 
Wilson,  E.  A. 
Pepper,  C.  M. 
Long,  J.  S. 
Gutfrie,  Benj.  F. 


1  No  Minutes  for  1864. 

2  There  are  no  records  for  1862,  1863,  1864.  The  number  of 
chaplains  from  this  Conference,  very  probably,  much  larger  than 
here  indicated. 

3  There  are  no  records  of  the  Conference  during  the  war. 

220 


Appendix. 


South  Carolina  Conference. 
Fleming,  Wm.  H. 
Stephens,  Alex.  B. 
Ervin,  James  S. 
Power,  Wm.  C. 
Allston,  Robt.  B. 
Miller,  John  W. 
Hemmingway,  W.  A. 
Meynardie,  Chas.  J. 
Black,  Wm.  S. 
Kennedy,  Francis  M. 
Thompson,  Eugene  W. 
Tart,  James  H. 
Wells,  Geo.  H. 
Snow,  J.  J. 
Brown,  M. 
Campbell,  James  B. 
Moore,  H.  D. 
Wells,  A.  N. 
Moore,  A.  W. 
Johnson,  L.  A. 
Hill,  S.  J. 
Mood,  F.  A. 

Georgia  Conference. 
Jordan,  Thos.  H. 
Reynolds,  John  A. 
Smith,  Geo.  G. 
Washburn,  John  H. 
Yarbrough,  Geo.  W. 
Simmons,  Wm.  A. 
Cone,  Wm.  H.  C. 
Talley,  John  W. 
Jackson,  James  B. 
Boland,  Elijah  N. 
Kramer,  Geo. 
Thigpen,  Alex.  M. 
Strickland,  John. 
Oslin,  W.  W. 
Dunlap,  W.  C. 
Rush,  L. 
Sparks,  J.  O.  A. 
Cook,  J.  O.  A. 
Troywick,  J.  W. 


Dodge,  Wm.  A. 
Jarrell,  Anderson  J. 
Malony,  Wm.  C. 
Lesler,  Robt.  B. 

Alabama  Conference. 
McBryde,  Alexander. 
Campbell,  James  M. 
Andrews,  A.  S. 
Wier,  T.  C. 
McVoy,  A.  D. 
Perry,  W.  G. 
Grace,  J.  J. 
Jones,  A.  M. 
Stone,  J.  B. 
Feith,  Wm. 
Johnson,  W.  G. 
Ellis,  C.  C. 
Connerly,  D.  C.  B. 
Rutledge,  Thos.  C. 
Gillis,  Neil. 
Talley,  Geo.  R. 
McFerrin,  J.  P. 
Wardlow,  F.  A. 
Norton,  W.  F. 
Selman,  B.  L. 

Mobile  Conference. 
Perry,  J.  W. 
Gregory,  J.  T.  M. 
Kavanaugh,  H.  H. 
Fikes,  A.  M. 
Stone,  H.  C. 
McGeher,  Lucius. 

Florida  Conference. 

Truberlake,  John  W. 
Pratt,  Geo.  W. 
Kennedy,  Wm.  M. 
Wiggins,  Robert  L. 
Evans,  Robert  F. 

Texas  Conference. 
Perry,  Benj.  F. 
Cox,  F.  J. 
Brooks,  C.  H. 

221 


Appendix. 


Ray,  E.  P. 
Addison,  O.  M. 


Jewel,  Horace. 
Chamberlain,  Wm,  A. 
Harvey,  James  E. 


Phillips,  P. 
Parks,  W.  A. 
Glass,  H.  M. 


Tyson,  Thos.  S. 
Davis,  Wm.  J. 
Johnson,  L.  H. 
Harrison,  E.  R. 
Wells,  M.  H. 


East  Texas  Conference.! 
Stovall,  David  M. 


Collins,  W.  C. 
Hill,  Wm.  B. 
Joyce,  W.  J. 
Smith,  John  C. 
Manion,  A.  B. 
Bobbins,  W.  M. 


Arkansas  Conference. 


Roberts,  R.  R. 
Mackey,  James. 
Williams,  J.  A. 
Lee,  B. 


Johnson,  B.  G. 
Evans,  G.  W. 


Wachita  Conference. 


Ratcliffe,  Wm.  P. 
Winfield,  Augustus  R. 


Harris,  Benoni. 
Rice,  John  H. 


No  Minutes  were  returned  for  the  Missouri,  St.  Louis, 
Kansas  Mission,  or  the  Pacific  Conferences  during  the 
four  years  of  the  war.  A  number  of  ministers  of  the 
Church  South  from  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Mis- 
souri became  chaplains  in  the  Union  Army,  and  twelve 
of  their  names  appear  in  the  lists  of  Union  chaplains. 

This  list  of  Confederate  chaplains  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  South  totals  209.  The  large  numbers 
contributed  by  some  of  the  Southern  Conferences  is  sur- 
prising. The  Tennessee  Conference  contributed  24;  the 
Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  22  each;  Georgia  Confer- 
ence, 23;  the  Albany,  20;  the  Memphis,  16;  and  the 
North  Carolina,  15. 

Besides  these  regular  chaplains  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  ministers  went  as  missionaries  to  the  Confederate 
armies,  performing  duties  similar  to  those  performed  by 
the  ministerial  delegates  of  the  United  States  Christian 
Commission. 

1  The  Minutes  of  this  Conference  for  1862  and  1863  were  not 
turned  in  for  publication.    They  are  probably  lost. 


222 


Appendix. 


The  names  of  these  missionaries  and  their  Confer- 
ences are: 


Holston  Conference. 
Dickey,  J.  W. 

Mississippi  Conference. 
Wheat,  John  J. 
Harrington,  Whitfield. 
Shelton,  James  H. 
Andrews,  C.  Green. 
PI  ummcutt,  Wm.  F.  C. 

Virginia  Conference. 
Rosser,  Leonidas. 
Cranberry,  John  C. 

Georgia  Conference. 
Yarbrough,  Geo.  W. 
Payne,  E.  B. 
Stewart,  Thos.  H. 
Thigpen,  Alex.  M. 
McGehee,  J.  W. 
Pierce,  Thomas  F. 
Turner,  J.  W. 
Lester,  Robt.  B. 
Harbin,  T.  B. 


Alabama  Conference. 
Hutchinson,  J.  J. 
Brandon,  F.  T.  J. 
Hamill,  E.  J. 
Edwards,  Wm.  B. 
Taturn,  I.  L. 
Dabbs,  C  L. 
Parker,  J.  A. 

Florida  Conference. 
Duncan,  Erastus  B. 
Giles,  Enoch  H. 

Texas  Conference. 
Seat,  W.  H. 
South,  H.  W. 
Glass,  H.  M. 
Cook,  T.  F. 
Ahrens,  J.  B. 

Wachita  Conference. 
McKennon,  H.  D. 


The  work  of  the  Methodist  chaplains  in  the  Confed- 
erate armies  was  very  similar  to  that  already  described 
in  the  Northern  armies.  It  is  stated  that  "unusual  re- 
ligious interest"  prevailed  in  the  army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  it  being  especially  pronounced  in  "Stonewall" 
Jackson's  corps.  "Jackson's  men  built  log  chapels  for 
regular  services,  and  their  general  aided  religious  work 
among  them,  taking  pains  to  provide  them  with  chap- 
lains. General  Lee  did  the  same,  and  not  only  his  chap- 
lains, but  his  chief  of  artillery,  General  William  A. 
Pendleton,  held  services  and  preached  every  Sunday  and 
during  the  week  as  well,  whenever  the  army  was  not 
fighting  or  marching.  Prayer-meetings  and  revivals 
were  common  in  camps,  and  at  these  generals  were  as 

223 


Appendix. 


active  and  conspicuous  as  in  a  battle.  Itinerant  preach- 
ers and  'circuit  riders'  were  guests  always  welcomed  and 
better  treated  than  any  other  visitors."1 

Large  numbers  of  the  preachers  of  the  Church  South 
who  died  during  the  war  were  or  had  been  chaplains  in 
the  Confederate  army  or  had  been  connected  with  the 
war  more  or  less  intimately,  the  death  of  most  of  them 
being  directly  due  to  this  cause.2 

Not  only  were  there  large  numbers  of  preachers  from 
the  Church  South  serving  as  chaplains  in  the  Confeder- 
ate armies,  as  we  have  seen,  but  also  an  exceptionally 
large  number  of  them  were  to  be  found  as  commissioned 
officers  and  in  the  ranks.  I  have  gone  through  the  Min- 
utes of  the  Conferences  of  the  Church  South  for  the 
war,  and  have  compiled  the  following  table  of  preachers 
who  were  not  chaplains  but  were  serving  the  Confeder- 
acy in  the  capacity  of  ordinary  soldiers  or  officers: 


Tennessee  Conference   13 

Holston  Conference    2 

Memphis  Conference    10 

Mississippi  Conference   12 

Louisiana  Conference   1 

Virginia  Conference    9 

North  Carolina  Conference   7 

South  Carolina  Conference   14 

Georgia  Conference    14 

Alabama  Conference    19 

Florida  Conference    8 

Rio  Grande  Conference   5 

Texas  Conference    16 

Wachita  Conference   11 

Total   141 


1  <  <  The  Civil  War  from  a  Southern  Standpoint,  "by  W.  R.  Gar- 
rett and  R.  A.  Halley, ' '  p.  338. 

2  This  information  is  gained  from  the  memoirs  of  deceased 
members,  found  in  Volume  II  of  General  Minutes  of  the  Church 
South. 

224 


Appendix. 

This  list  is  incomplete,  owing  to  the  fact  that  there 
are  no  records  for  several  of  the  Conferences.  It  is 
very  probably  true  that  there  were  at  least  as  many 
Methodist  preachers  in  the  Southern  armies  serving  as 
soldiers  (non-chaplains)  as  in  the  Union  armies. 


15 


225 


APPENDIX  F. 


,2  s)Nao^KM'*'f'ft:'*aN«».'5  009*^ 
o  cx        «Oi-h        <-*  o»  co  oo 

a  ph* 

O       .     .^H  «N  

5    .2  «HHTfHHaHHi-inno(5(H(n<NaiH 


0  v 

a  « 

■  S  - 

1  c3 


0  M 


.=  « 

.jog 


ea  —  *  ea  ea  «3,»  *iS2[S»  •  •*«  •  oj  a  5>ja  s  o  n  o  StSi  cur  4? 


2  t»»9(HOOl-nO3CC(l>«00-*9(-iS!>#nRC19lt-t»O«L'!Xr)**O9( 

o  oo^h     oocog*(w-*    T?«T}<rH     «s  t- »o  >o  «a  os  —  n  «  <w  *  ■*  a*  t>  oo  i-< 

9   O"  i-Tp-TmJ       0?  Oft  i-Tr-T  CD"  ■-<*  rn'of 


Is 


5  3.2 


to : 


-=  £.3 


«  5.S  6cS 


226 


INDEX. 


E 


American  Bible  Society,  166-168. 
Ames,  Bishop  E.  R.,   88,   89,   98,  102, 

142,  143,  151-154,  208-210. 
Andrew,  Bishop  James  O.,  24,  25. 
Anti-Slavery  Journals,  21. 
Anti-Slavery  Societies,  19-21. 
Arkansas  Conference,  31. 
Asbury,  Francis,  16,  17. 
Atlantic  Conferences,  70-79. 


Baker,  Bishop,  O.  C,  88,  99,  142,  143, 
150. 

Baltimore  Christian  Advocate,  55,  114. 
Baltimore  Conference,  47,  49,  50. 
Baptist  Church — 

Slavery  Contest  in,  27,  42. 

Missions  in  South,  99. 

Periodicals,  129. 
Bartine,  D.  W.,  70. 
Black  River  Conference,  76. 
Boston  Preachers'  Meeting,  67,  68,  97, 
137. 

Butler,  Gen.  B.  F.,  96,  113,  169,  170. 
"Butternuts,"  86  and  Note. 


Calhoun,  John  O,  42. 

Central  Christian  Advocate,  35,  36,  87, 

121-125. 
Central  Ohio  Conference,  82. 
Chaplains — 

Laws  regulating,  135,  136. 
Letter  to  Senator  Wilson  concerning, 
134. 

Methodist,  138,  139. 
Names  of  Methodist,  188-195. 
Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  23,  35, 
39,    45,    59,   60,    61,    76,  114-117, 
129,  130,  138. 
Christian  Apologist,  128,  131. 
Cincinnati  Conference,  81,  130,  131. 
Clark,  D.  W.,  132,  159. 
Clay,  Henry,  40. 

Conferences,  Early  General,  16-24. 
Conferences,     General,     1844,  24-26; 

1848,  34;  1856,  38;  1860,  39,  47, 

112;  1864,  87-92. 
Connecticut,  63. 
Cookman,  Alfred,  70. 
"Copperheads,"  86. 
Crooks,  Geo.  R.,  70,  72. 
Cummings,  Joseph,  88,  89. 
Curry,  Daniel,  72. 


East  Baltimore  Conference,  47,  48,  50- 
51. 

East  Genesee  Conference,  76. 

Eddy,  T.  A.,  88,  125-127. 

Elliott,  Charles,  39,  87,  88,  89,  114-117. 

Erie  Conference,  76. 


Fisk,  Gen.  Clinton  B.,  94. 

Mrs.  Clinton  B.,  60. 
Foster,  R.  S.,  70,  88. 
Freedmen,  Organizations  for  aiding,  168- 
176. 

Fremont,  Gen.  John  C,  112,  113. 
Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  41. 


Garrison,  William  L.,  19. 
Genesee  Conference,  75. 
German  Conferences,  80. 
Gettysburg,  78. 
Grant,  U.  S.,  108,  150. 


Harper's  Weekly,  148,  157,  158. 
Haven,  E.  O.,  132. 
Haven,  Gilbert,  64,  137. 
Hicks,  Governor,  49,  51. 


Indiana,  80,  86. 

Conferences  in,  82,  83. 
Illinois,  80. 

Conferences  in,  83-85. 
Iowa,  80,  86. 

Conferences  in,  85. 


Janes,  Bishop  E.  S.,  88,  99,  142,  144- 
146,  149. 


Kansas — 

Struggle  between  Churches  in,  29,  32- 
34. 

Conference,  87. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  44. 
Kentucky,  56,  57. 

Conference  (M.  E.)  47,  48. 

M.  E.  Church,  South,  57. 
Kingsley,  Charles,  88,  117-121,  132,  159. 


Delaware,  63. 
Disciplines.,  Early,  17-19. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  44. 
Durbin,  J.  P.,  36,  70. 


Ladies'  Repository,  128. 
Liberator,  The,  19. 
Lincoln,  A.,  49,   89,  90, 
115,  133,  134. 


227 


91,   107,  108, 


Index, 


M 

Maine,  63. 

McAnally,  Dr.,  59. 

McClellan,  Gen.  Geo.  B.,  168. 

McClintoek,  John,  70,  145-149. 

McPheeters  Case,  104-106. 

Massachusetts,  63. 

Maryland,  47,  49,  51. 

Methodist,  The,  111,  116  and  Note. 

Methodist  Book  Concern,  79. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South — 

Organization,  25,  26. 

Part  in  the  War,  219-225. 

Oppose   action   of  M.   E.   Church  in 
South,  102-104. 
Michigan,  80. 

Conference  in,  85. 
Minnesota,  80. 
Missouri — 

Struggle  between  Churches  in,  29,  30, 
31,  58-62. 

Military  Interference  with  Churches 
in,  104-108. 

Conference  (M.  E.),  47,  48. 
Missionary  Society,  M.  E.  Church,  62, 
100. 

Moody,  Granville,  81,  87,  88,  90. 
Morris,  Bishop  Thomas  A.,  88,  142,  144. 

N 

Nashville  and  Louisville  Christian  Advo- 
cate, 45. 
Newark  Conference,  73,  74. 
New  England,  44,  63-69. 
Negroes — 

Early  attitude  of  Government  towards, 
168,  169. 

Employment  of,  by  commanders,  169- 
171. 

New  Hampshire,  63. 
New  Jersey,  73. 

Conference,  74. 
New  Orleans,  96. 
New  York,  63. 

Conference,  72,  73. 

East  Conference,  70-72. 
Northern  Christian  Advocate,  35. 
Northwestern    Christian    Advocate,  35, 

36,  38.  125-127. 
North  Ohio  Conference,  81. 
Newman,  John  P.,  70,  108,  159. 

O 

Odell,  Hon.  M.  F.,  71,  72. 
Ohio,  80. 

P 

Pacific  Christian  Advocate,  128. 
Paddock,  G.  W.,  71,  87. 
Peck,  Jesse  T.,  88,  89. 
Periodicals,  Methodist,  111,  112,  128. 
Periodicals  M.  E.  Church,   South,  128, 
129. 

Pennsylvania,  63,  77. 


Philadelphia,  77,  78. 

Conference,  47,  48,  52,  53,  92. 
Pittsburgh  Conference,  76. 
Pittsburgh  Christian  Advocate,   55,  76, 
128. 

Presbyterian  Church — 

Slavery  Contest  in,  26,  27. 
Missions  in  South,  99. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  27. 

B 

Rhode  Island,  63. 

S 

Scott,  Bishop  Levi,  48,  88,  142,  143,  150. 
St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  59. 
Simpson,  Bishop  Matthew,   41,   88,  99, 

142,  143,  154-159,  211-218. 
Slavery  Contest  in  the  Church,  15-29. 
Soldiers,  Methodist,  92-95. 
Stanton,  Secretary  E.  M.,  98,  152,  153, 

155. 

Stevens,  Dr.  Abel,  39,  70. 

T 

Texas — 

Struggle  in  the  Church  over  Slavery, 
31  32 

Thomson,  Edward,  39,  88,  114-117,  132, 
159. 

Tract  Society,  131. 
Troy  Conference,  75. 

U 

Union   Church,   Philadelphia,  87. 
United  Presbyterian  Church,  99. 
United    States    Christian  Commission, 
149,   159,  161-166. 
List  of  Methodist  preachers  who  were 
"delegates"   in,  197-207. 

V 

Vermont,  63. 

Virginia  Conference,  17,  49. 

W 

Webster,  Daniel.  41. 

Wesley.  John,  15,  16. 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  22,  23. 

Western  Christian  Advocate,  35,  36,  39, 

41,  79,  117-121,  138. 
Whedon,  D.  D.,  70. 
West  Virginia  53-55. 

Contest  between  Churches  in,  29,  36, 

40. 

Conference,  47,  48. 
West  Wisconsin  Conference,  93. 
Wisconsin,  80. 
Wyoming  Conference,  80. 

Z 

Zion's  Herald,  34,  35,  44,  64,  65,  127, 
128,  131. 


228 


Date  Dae 

n  i  o 

FACULTY 

1 

-dlilh  

f) 

t 


